Customer Reviews

How Stella Got Her Groove Back

5 star:		(91)
4 star:		(54)
3 star:		(30)
2 star:		(22)
1 star:		(47)

 

 

For a writing style that is similar to the style I am writing this review in you will find a lovely story of a 42 year old woman who falls in lust with a 21 year old man whose best characteristic is that he kisses real nice and she has a son who tells her age is just a number so she goes ahead and continues the relationship if you like long run-on sentences without a comma or a period and can relate only to kids fresh out of highschool then this book is for you because thats the basic contents of the story really really I mean you will read long paragraphs and feel like you have to hold your breath just to read it and I got tired of the constant highschoolish jitters she got as she would wait by the phone for Winston to call and she'd have to be reassured each time that yes indeed he does care for her and there is nobody else I recommend this book highly if you want an easy read that you can read in a half an hour because it is easy to skip the long rambling parts.

Usually I enjoy a book more than the movie. In this case it was the opposite. Ms. McMillan has created a self-absorbed character who is more concerned with her own appearance (and the appearance of others) than any other quality.

It is hard to understand why Stella is so smitten with her young love interest, as their conversation seems on a level with a couple in high school. She continually demonstrates the self esteem of a high school girl as well; each time she doesn't hear from Winston for a little while she is convinced he doesn't really care for her, despite his protests to the contrary.

After reading 3/4 of this book, that centered mostly on her possessions and status symbols (hair, clothes, car, home furnishings, music, etc.), I found I had to put it down. When I began reading this book I enjoyed the run-on, stream of consciousness style of the author; but reading about Stella's self-absorbed world finally became too boring an experience to want to finish it.

I often share my books with friends, but in this case I would be embarrassed to do so.

Don't pick up "Stella" expecting something serious and deep. Read it for what it is - a fun romance that's light and airy and meant to take you and your mind into a world away from today's every day grind.

Stella decides to take a last minute trip to Jamaica, and winds up having the time of her life and meeting the man of her dreams, a man a LOT younger than she is! But who cares? Stella does at first, and fights this battle all the way til the end. She falls madly in love with Winston, who is barely in his 20's, but he's the kind of man she's always dreamed of, and they "click"!

I loved the style of the book - the rambling sentences that took us into Stella's mind. I loved the time she spent in Jamaica, and the fact that she had the guts to do this trip (it is something I've done myself, on a similar whim!! I can totally relate!). Stella teaches us that you dont' have to be stuck in your rut and conform - go and do what makes you feel good! Have fun!!

I loved Waiting to Exhale -- this book is not as "deep" psychologically speaking, but it's a fun romp in Jamaica. No one gets inside the upper middle class black mind like MacMillan. She's not going for Shakespeare here, so give her a break -- this is a fun book to be enjoyed and savored. I think more readers should be happy that for once we have positive and strong black literary characters who are financial successes. I hope both black and white children will learn something from these books alone the lines of there are plenty of successful black women -- not all black people play basketball or deal drugs! The sexual plot is throughly enjoyable -- I think MacMillan must have had a ball writing this one. For an enjoyable read, pick it up!

Oh come on, people, stop criticizing this book just because it's not a heavy, philosophical tome! Who doesn't need to laugh once in awhile? I know I sure do and I did with this witty, vibrant, fun book. The characters are immensely likable, the setting is fun and the plot is a hoot. Thanks, Terry McMillan for a fun little romp in Jamaica!

Like another reviewer, I, too, recently decided to re-read this book in light of McMillan's highly publicized divorce from Jonathan Plummer, my morbid curiosity wanting to see if I had missed any "clues" in my first reading, over six years ago, that could have tipped me off to the eventual demise of their relationship.

And I, too, apparently didn't realize how badly-written it was the first time around. The run-on sentences, the two-dimensional characters, and of course, the endless, pointless descriptions of Stella's clothes and furniture and hotel rooms...

The love story in and of itself is sweet, but gets buried under the page-long sentences and laundry lists of Stella's many, many posessions, of which Winston, in a lot of ways, seems to be just another: the huge funky house, the nice car, the dizzying wardrobe of swimwear, and then the hot young Jamaican lover. I think the only reason Stella lost her groove in the first place is it was burried in her closet under a mountain of brand-new CDs and expensive clothes.

I saw the movie first, but I still liked the book, because it is an accurate account of Jamacia. When I picked up the book, which had been in my library for years, I had just come back from Jamaica. It's December in DC and the weather is the pits so I needed to feel the warmth of Jamacia. How Stella Got Her Groove Back did it for me. Negril Jamacia, if you have never been there, it is a must that you go and those of you who have been there need I say anymore. Read the book first if you haven't been, then go and get your groove on.

This books lacks passion, and an interesting character. Stella is completely self-absorbed, much more interested in acquistions and 'brand' names than in anything with substance.She is shallow and has the attitude of an inept teeny booper.

This was not one of her best books. I definately liked the movie more than I did the book. When I first started reading it, that whole stream of consciousness thing got on my nerves. Then the way she constantly berated herself over and over and over and over and over (annoying, isn't it? That's how it was in the book)got on my nerves. Out of all of her books, I found this one the most difficult to read. However, it did have its moments. But as I said, the movie was better.

Although I like the movie better, I enjoyed the book also. If you're looking for a thought provoking, insightful book, this probably isn't what you're looking for. But if you're looking for an escape, this is a decent choice. A good vacation book.