Customer Reviews

Consider Lily

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Lily Traywick has never had a date (not a real one), dislikes her job and at 28 still lives at home with her parents and grandmother. Enter her friend Reagan who convinces Lily that her boy problems are because of the way that she presents herself and so they enter into a bet - Reagan gets to make Lily over and if she doesn't succeed in getting her a date (and more) then she will go to church (a big sacrifice for the definitely non Christian Reagan). Through in a fair amount of heartache, humour and chaos along the way and you have Consider Lily.

Having had a mixed reaction to Emily Ever After I wasn't sure what to expect with Consider Lily. I'm not usually one to give a book five stars but this one I just loved. I laughed and I nodded and in a few places I felt like the authors had crawled into my head! Finally a Christian chick lit book where the main character is both Christian and real at the same time! Lily isn't perfect and that is one of the most endearing things about her. I too love how she has friends who aren't Christians, knocks back the odd glass of wine and have a real faith that has cracks in it. I would recommend this book to any of my friends who enjoy chick lit - Christian or not. Thank you Anne and May for finally writing something that I could relate to! Looking forward to the next instalment!

I picked this book up on a whim while trying to find something for a business trip. What was a wonderful suprise it turned out to be! I couldn't put the thing down trying to get to the end of the book. It is truthful, realistic, funny and Christian. I've recommended it to many and none have been disappointed. I also recommend there first book Emily Ever After...can't wait for the next!!

I loved this book! I must admit I am not much of a reader, but after I picked up and read these two authors' first book "Emily Ever After"...I have been waiting for their 2nd book ever since!! "Consider Lily" is just as great and in my opinion even better than their first. It is light, fun, girly and innocent. I love that the authors have chosen New York (Emily Ever After) and San Francisco (in this book)as the main characters background setting. They capture the feel beautifully!

If you are in a place where you are looking for that perfect romantic comedy on dvd to cozy up to and your favorites are still there, but you need something new right now. Grab this book and read it instead! You'll be just as fulfilled if not more!

In San Francisco, Lily Traywick knows that she is 180 degrees different from her perfectly fashioned parents as she prefers softball on the nearby sandlots while they enjoy an evening in Paris. She scoffs at gene pool theory as their DNA must have skipped her without a trace. Her parents own Traywick's of San Francisco, the chicest department store in the state. Lily, knowing she is going to own the store one day works in the Silver spoon children's wear, but is not that good at selling.

Lily has never been on a date, but her best friend Reagan Axness, who should have been the Traywick daughter, helps her with a makeover and arranges a date with Daniel. Lily has a good time, but realizes she and Daniel are going to remain friends. New store employee Sam March likes Lily and begins to date her. They fall in love, but Lily fears that he desires the new glamour image not the real sweatshirt soul that she truly is.

Anne Dayton and May Vanderbilt provide a delightful contemporary tale that emphasizes "to thine own self be true" especially if you want others to be true with you and to believe that you are being truthful with them. Lily is a wonderful protagonist struggling to make her parents proud of her, but not really understanding what they, especially her mom, wants of her until her mother takes drastic action late in the tale. The support cast, even Sam to a degree, enable the reader to better understand Lily's trepidations as much as from her self-analysis asides to the reader. CONSIDER LILY is a fine character study starring a somewhat typical chick lit heroine, who fans will adore.

Harriet Klausner

I thought The Book of Jane was one of the most fun, most entertaining Christian chick-lits out there. The authors' sense of wit and insight is wonderful and I loved how they got the information from the book of Job, one of my favorites from the bible. And so, I had looked forward to reading something else by Dayton and Vanderbilt. Consider Lily, while not as good as The Book of Jane, is still a wonderful romp. Lily, at twenty-seven, is at a crossed roads. She still lives with her parents, owners of a department store and all out fashionistas; she has no career (she really wants to be a writer); no sense of style (a cardinal sin, according to her mother); and her love life is nil. What the heck has she been doing with her life? When one of her friends gives her a full makeover, things start looking up. There is a love interest -- a gorgeous surfer dude -- but she is worried that he may not share her Christian beliefs. Her career as a journalist is taking off and she finally moves out of her house (and shares an apartment with a weird girl who likes to walk around naked). But is everything okay in her life? She writes all of her musings on an online blog. If her identity is revealed... well, her famous parents wouldn't be pleased.

This is such a fun read. I read it quite quickly, and I couldn't put it down. Dayton and Vanderbilt know how to create an entertaining story. The characters feel real and flawed. You understand them and could relate to them. The authors cover something regarding Anorexia in this novel and I appreciated that. I also enjoyed all of the sharp humor in this. I laughed out loud in various occasions. The one thing I could say against this is that it gets a tad boring in the middle, but the novel is still very entertaining. I recommend Consider Lily. And if you enjoy this, you MUST read The Book of Jane. Now that's an awesome read!

"Consider Lily" is a clever surprise of a novel! Often I lean more towards reading historical Christian fiction rather than modern, simply because Christian novels set in modern-day are usually filled with flat characters that lack vibrancy, in an effort to make them seem like "good Christians". I was thrilled to find that this novel manages to accurately and entertainingly portray a modern Christian woman who is spunky, funny, relatable, AND is grounded in her faith.
The descriptions of Lily's church friends and singles group were hilariously true-to-life, her family and friends were flawed and loveable, and the struggles they dealt with were heart-felt and realistic.
This book is certainly funny enough, culturally relevant enough, and un-preachy enough to share with non-Christians; however I think a third of the humor will lost on a reader who hasn't spent a lot of time in church. It's not a terribly deep or theologically challenging story, but overall, it's a great, light read that is sure to make you laugh.

Grade: A-

I just happened to pick up this book at my library for a quick and easy read. I fell in love with the heroine and her friends. I read the entire book last night and I can't stop smiling. I feared that this book would disappoint after reading the first few chapters. Lily surprised me by transforming from a whiny, spoiled 27 year-old into a mature, open-minded adult. Don't miss this book! I'm already re-reading it!