6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Pleasant but nothing special, November 1, 2009
This review is from: The Girl Next Door: A Novel (Paperback)
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I chose The Girl Next Door because I had read and enjoyed The Reading Group by the same author. Unfortunately, I did not The Girl Next Door as much.
This novel is comprised of intertwining stories of residents of a New York City apartment building. It was a pleasant read. But there was no "hook" here at all. Other than one emotional chapter, each story is mundane and predicable. The characters are one dimensional, almost stereotypes. There are so many characters, that we never feel invested in any of them. The writing is okay - but certainly not witty, insightful, full of attitude, poetic, or anything else that would make this novel stand out.
It's not bad, really. There's just nothing about it that would make me recommend it to a friend.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Who cares?, January 20, 2010
This review is from: The Girl Next Door: A Novel (Paperback)
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This book had an interesting premise, but it never took off for me. The characters are all stereotypes and too shallowly drawn to care much about. I don't understand Eve at all, for I firmly believe "wherever you go, there you are" yet she seems to have lost herself whilst crossing the pond. Her husband Ed, of course, has no such problems and throws himself into his work. When he notices Eve, he is annoyed by by her and the person she has become.
We are told Kim and Jason used to have a fabulous relationship, but for most of the book they are little more than two ships passing in the night. The confrontation and subsequent events are given short shrift, so we have to take the author's word for the resolution to their conflict.
Rachel and David and family are worth rooting for until ... they're not. Their conflict comes out of the blue and really is not believable.
The gay couple are evidently thrown in because someone told the author that it's not unusual for a gay couple to own a home together in NYC.
Of the three single women, Charlotte, Emily, and Madison, only Emily gets any real face time in this book. Even that is shallow and fleeting. Trip is the stereotypical player and his transformation feeds into the fallacy that a woman can change a man.
Violet, the elderly widow, is the most interesting of the characters, and we do learn a lot about her.
The story is told in little vignettes. Each chapter is a specific month; the changes in POV are clearly labeled. But, there is very little interaction between the various characters, and what there is feels stilted and staged (i.e., the roof garden). The conflicts and resolutions are very predictable. I finished the book and wondered what the point of it all was. The story just ends.
A beach read, at best.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
good but flawed, December 13, 2009
This review is from: The Girl Next Door: A Novel (Paperback)
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I have mixed emotions about this book. It traces a few months in the lives of residents of a New York apartment building. It's a little hard to get into because there are so many characters that even with a chart at the front, it is difficult to keep them straight. The story lines relating to Charlotte/Emily/Jackson and Kim/Jason are terrific. The story lines relating to Rachel/David and Ed/Eve/Violet are not so great. Plus there are several characters that are introduced almost as though they are more than main characters but we're never told more, which gives the book an almost unfinished feel. The Ed/Eve/Violet storyline is the main storyline and it is the most flawed. The idea is supposed to be that Eve brought Violet out of her shell through their friendship but there is nothing in the book about Eve drawing Violet out. It is Violet who reaches out to Eve. I just don't think the story of their friendship had the impact the book was trying to claim.
Like I said, I really enjoyed the Charlotte/Emily/Jackson storyline and how all three of those characters evolved by surprises brought into their lives. Kim/Jason was also very well developed and you found yourself cheering for them, in spite of their many flaws. I wouldn't go running out to buy more of this author's books, but I'd read one if I came across it.
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