Customer Reviews

Meeting Damian Lewis

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

 

 

If I could have given this book no stars I would have. It is self published by the author and totally unreadable. It is actually difficult to judge the quality of the writing as the text is completely riddled with errors of all kinds. I can only assume that the writer thought that some editing process would take place after the manuscript left her hands, but apparently this service was not included in the price she paid. I couldn't get beyond page 10, let alone finish the book.

I'm not sure where I should even start; the plot is your basic drivelling, Mary-Sue wish-fulfillment fantasy that lives (and should have remained, might I add) in the deepest corners of the mind. At least the author (and the author's Mary-Sue and the Mary-Sue's Mary-Sue) exist without shining golden locks and violet eyes, I will give it that.

The writing however is also bordering on poor in both structure and form -- the author appears to be fighting an epic battle with commas and I'm unsure as to who wins (it certainly wasn't the reader) -- what with the paragraphs and dialogue being a chunky, choppy mess. Situations and conversations occasionally make little to no sense as the characters have the habit of jumping from one location very suddenly into the next while conversations that have just taken place are suddenly completely forgotten in a bid to make the lead character look much more sympathetic then she actually is. For instance she appears to be late for work due to an obsession with a program of which she owns a recording (forgetting also about the meal of deliciously healthy baked beans that consuming might have also made her late), her employer going so far as to leave a message on her machine questioning her whereabouts (this prompts her to mention that she'll have to make up a lie. Again. As if this is a regular occurrence) However once she turns up for work the man informs her that she works too hard and too often and she doesn't have to be there every night which in turn causes 'Ruby' to panic and ....blurt out nonsense.

The rest of the book continues on with much the same lack of reality and consistency but at least she doesn't ride off across a rainbow made of stars so cheers to that.

Finally I'd just like to mention that the author reviews her own 'novel' as if she were someone completely unassociated with writing the thing (though she does it under her own name so I haven't the foggiest why she even bothered!) and takes apart the reviews of others in an uncomfortable and unprofessional manner.

I loved this book, it had plenty of plot twists and characters to keep it amusing, it had its ups and downs and reflected the feelings of numerous women, im sure, who feel theyve been dealt a bad hand in life and that they need to do something to desparate to turn things around.
being 40 myself, ive long had a crush on him myself and would love to meet him, but as im in america and hes in england, happliy married to a stunning , talented actress with two beautiful children, thats not likely to ever happen.
but still i found the book was a page turner, i never put it down from start to finish.
all ruby truly needed was confidence and a purpose in life which writing this book gave her, it gave her a way to stop feeling sorry for herself and something to look foward to, to give her some self worth again.
to prove that you can live through a broken heart and start over.

This is a very funny book. It starts one way and just when you think it is going to be one thing, it changes course very quickly and took me by surprise. Ruby shares a lot of characteristics (and insecurities) with the 'almost 40' women which makes her very endearing. Her crush on Damian Lewis motivates her as her life begins to improve and we begin to see that Jack's life is not all it is cracked up to be. But fate keeps him and Ruby apart. The final scene in The Ivy when Ruby gets to meet (or not meet?) Damian Lewis is very funny and so typical of how dreams never quite go the way we think they will go.

Damian Lewis is not only a very good actor and TV personality, but he proves he is also a very good role model in a novel, as he flits in and out of Ruby's fantasies.

It is unexpected, refreshing and both funny and sad. The best feel-good book I've read for years. Be ready to brush a tear from your eye at the very end!