Customer Reviews

The Debutante Divorcee

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(19)
1 star:		(35)

 

 

I first heard of this book in Vogue, the magazine for which Plum Sykes is a contributor, through a first serial (ie, an excerpt from the book printed in a magazine before it is published) that was reprinted there. Thinking I would like The Debutante Divorcee (because I thought Bergdorf Blondes was excellent), I went out and bought Sykes's new novel.

I hated it; I think I'm being generous with my two stars. As a previous reviewer wrote, Plum Sykes makes Paula Abdul look intelligent.

The characters are shallow and vapid and lack substance, especially the narrator, who I couldn't stand. The women who appear in The Debutante Divorcee are completely and utterly forgettable. I know that Plum Sykes's connection to one of the most widely-read women's magazines in the world is what got her books published in the first place; but someone should give Sykes a reality check as soon as possible and tell her that writing is simply NOT the career she should be persuing.

Sykes fails to hit the mark with her sophomore novel. Bergdorf Blondes was a terrific romp in the lifestyle of pampered society princesses. Skyes is unable to recapture the wit and guilty pleasure of her first novel in this effort.

The novel is forced, cliched, painful attempt a light satire. Brands and names are dropped every other paragraph, to a pathetic degree of social hipness. The characters are over-the-top in an implausible, not loveably ridiculous, manner.

If you want great social-climbing satire, check out Wendy Wasserstein's Elements of Style. Look to Candace Bushnell for just plain good chick lit. Plum Sykes had a great debut, but her second novel fails being either a literary success or even a decent entry in the chick lit genre.

I enjoy a quick and easy read as much as the next girl, but this is just lazy and to put it plainly, dumb. I thought this would be a light read while I am 8 months pregnant and on bed rest, but I would have rather been forced to watch Baywatch re-runs.

Even though Syke's first book, Bergdorf Blondes was obviously no literary masterpiece, I still enjoyed it. It was quite funny and delicously, unapologetically shallow. However, The Debutante Divorcee was utter dribble. The characters were boring and one-dimensional, there was no plot to speak of, and the book's attempts to be "funny" fell flat, almost to the point where I felt sorry for the author, who is undoubtably going to be ridiculed for having actually written this. Don't waste your time or money.

Oh, poor Plume Sykes. She just cannot string a sentence together to save her life. This was an horrifying example of what passes for fiction today. Don't waste your time with this tripe. Thank Goodness, mine came from the library.

Oh it's hilarious the author below me says this is no Davinci Code as if Davinci Code was some super serious book. NOT! However, this book makes Davinci Code look like War and Peace.

If you want a good plot compared to this, try another book I read, called,The SAS Self-Defense Handbook: A Complete Guide to Unarmed Combat Techniques by John "Lofty" Wiseman. I am serious even that had a better plot than this one. (Actually that is a pretty good self defense book)

Please Miss Sykes, stop writing and go get your hair done.

I gave Miss Sykes a star to prove that she seems to know how to correctly punctuate a sentence here and there.

The only people defending this trash are obviously friends of Plum Sykes. Trust me: no one who's read this book knows what quantum physics means, me included. A friend gave me this for my birthday. Thanks for nothing! It's a silly, stupid and immature book with paper-thin characters and not even a half-plot. I wouldn't usually write about it but it's getting all this press that some of us need to say it like it is.

Just when you think that Plum Sykes had hit chick-lit's bottom with the appallingly "Bergdorf Blondes," she lowers the bar. In this case, the bar is lowered for the idiotic chick-lit soap opera "Debutante Divorcee," all about the antics of brainless divorcees and a neurotic new wife. The fun never ends.

Sylvie and Hunter are on their honeymoon when Hunter's business calls him away, leaving Sylvie to sulk over his absence. She finds some comfort in cavorting with the "Debutante Divorcees," glamorous creatures who get married and divorced in the blink of an eye. Sylvie is the one married girl in the bunch, and she plans to stay that way.

But soon she begins to suspect that Hunter is cheating on her -- tabloid pictures, clashing reports, and a sultry coworker known for hunting hubbies and breaking up marriages. While globe-hopping with her new pal Lauren (who is flinging with Russian stars, teenage boys and "Mr. Five Orgasms"), Sylvia gathers clues that may lead to her marriage's destruction.

When a woman announces "I want to be Lindsey Lohan most of the time, don't you?", you know you're in for a stupid ride, full of celebrity name-dropping, couture clothing, and people who are worrying about their designer dresses at a funeral. It's like the Barbie games that little girls play, only more dull to read about.

Sykes still can't really piece together a real plot, and so "Debutante Divorcee" basically adds up to a string of loosely connected subplots, some of which she seems to be making up as she goes along. The dialogue is self-consciously ditzy, and sadly, very few of the convoluted plot twists come as any surprise.

The most unbelievable plot twist comes by the finale, and it has to do with the DDs themselves. The massive personality defects that broke up the DDs' first marriages suddenly evaporate by the end... for no good reason. Does she expect anyone to think these relationships are going to last more than a week or two?

And his time around, Sykes tries to make us like her characters, but alas, she doesn't know HOW. The DDs are vapid, skanky and ditzy, despite Sykes' attempts to convince us that they're goodhearted, and Sylvie is a suggistable neurotic mess who can't stand up to her cardboard "perfect" hubby.

Torn between Prince Charming and marriage cynicism, Plum Sykes tries to combine the two and comes up with a vapid mess. Forget "Debutante Divorcee" -- get this annulled.

HORRIBLE!!! couldn't even finish it...not even beach-worthy...
i think 100 chimps at typewriters could've written a better book...just a sham...not witty, not funny, not anything...a big, fat bore......DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME WITH THIS ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

... as the worst book of the year. Or the decade. Actually, I nominate it as the worst book ever published.

I would really give this book zero stars if it was an option. Trite, pointless fluff about a shallow group of people that you would never want the misfortune of meeting. This was such a disappointment after Bergdorf Blondes, which was a delightful read.

I hope that the next book is better, but I wouldn't recommend anyone buying this book (or, if you feel you must, wait for the paperback!).