Customer Reviews

Five Women

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

 

 

I couldn't wait to be finished with this book. I only continued after the 18th chapter because of the time invested; and there's 44 of them! What a waste of time. The story moves quickly enough; for some characters their lives moved within a matter of sentences, others times you are dragged through the emotional pathos and dysfunction for pages. Every character in the book has had or is having some crisis that steers the course of their lives. These women are all looking for 'love', but will take shallow, self-serving, non-committal sex in it's place, and places the reader in a postion to pity them when it doesn't work out. The weekly 'pity party' these characters have lures you into thinking there is a true commaraderie; only to discover it's pathetic agenda.

This was a book about five middle-aged women friends. It goes back into each of their pasts. I liked this because it added dimension to the characters and you then understood why they behaved the way they did in life and love. This is not a feel-good book. The characters all have tragic and depressing issues in their lives, which made it kind of a downer to read. But it also made it real. I was engrossed in this book and was surprised to see so many negative reviews. The author tied up the story nicely in the end as well. I would recommend this book to anyone, especially middle-aged women.

Well, after 7 Rona Jaffe books, I've finally reached one that was a disappointment. I just didn't feel as much for the women of this book as I did for characters in the other 6 books I've read.

This is the story of five very different women in their 30's and 40's who meet up weekly at a New York City bar/restaurant, and dish about life, love, and their pasts. Of the five women, one was incredibly annoying, another was very annoying, two were just so-so, and the fifth, probably the most interesting of the bunch, we never really get to learn much about.

There's Eve...whom I hated...whose a struggling actress, a despicable mother and a questionable friend. She's so pushy and rude, and some of the things that come out of her mouth just make you cringe at how immature and inappropriate they are. There's Felicity...whom I wanted to smack...who's in a somewhat abusive marriage, and all she does is complain about how much she hates her husband, and wants to leave him, and how she can't live without her lover Jason. Her constant weakness and complaining got on my nerves real quick.

Then there's Gara, and Katherine...Gara's a psychologist whose husband of 20 years just left her for a younger woman, and she's struggling to pick up the pieces; and Katherine, who comes from a very bad childhood, and a few failed marriages, is determined to have fun in her later years, and make up for lost time. Both these women were ok...but not much more. And finally there's Billie...the owner of the Yellowbird (the place where the women meet). I liked her the best. She had a normal childhood, a short stint with fame and fortune, and then (after much drama) settled into her gig as owner of a NYC restaurant, and mom to her young son.

Overall, this was most definitely not my favorite Rona Jaffe book. I felt it went on about 100 pages too long, and the majority of the characters were just not likeable. I'm just really glad that this was not the first book of hers that I picked up. If your thinking about reading this, skip it...she has so many other great books out there...and I still look forward to all the ones I haven't read yet.

What I liked about this book: the characters were not young, nubile women only... they were multi-faceted over 30's types with lots of history behind them.

What I didn't like: the history was primarily struggle filled and very loosely wrapped. Because there were five different women involved, I didn't feel very deeply involved with any of them.

Two I liked and two annoyed the heck out of me for the most part.... and the fifth? She was ok... I think? I really didn't get to know her very well.

I also wished there was a straight, normal man we could all appreciate.

I captured several really good lines from Jaffe, but that was not worth the more than 400 page read. On the other hand, I did keep reading so there must be something redeeming about the story.

I enjoyed this story about five friends - It was a fast read, but nonetheless, a good story.

For a story with five main characters, I was glad that it was fast paced. I like Jaffe's writing style and even as a twenty year old, I can still relate to one character in this story. At first, I was put off because the main characters were middle aged. I just didn't want to read about the sex life of a fifty year old. But as I read on, I became open minded and went through this book like a breeze. It was like Waiting to Exhale meeting a drug free Valley of the Dolls.

If you love Rona Jaffe, you better put out an APB on her new book, due sometime soon called, "The Road Taken." This diva has got it going!