Customer Reviews

No Dress Rehearsal (Open Door)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This short story itself is very well written and enjoyable. I did not enjoy it as much as her other books but only because it is a short story rather than a novel and, therefore, lacks the character development I enjoy so much in her novels. However, I would NOT recommend this book to anybody reading it on the Kindle. The formatting is incredibly messy and hard to read. It appears as though headers and footers from the hard copy book such as "Marian Keyes" and "No Dress Rehearsal" are randomly placed throughout the text. Also, there are many places where 2-5 words are placed together without spaces. This makes the text still readable however I would have to stop reading and look at the text to figure out what the words were supposed to be. This made the entire reading experience significantly less enjoyable. It is a shame that the Kindle version is so sloppy because the actual story is very well written.

This was more of a long short story than even an novella. I liked it though. The main character, Lizzie, is killed in a biking accident, but doesn't know she's dead yet. Eventually she does figure it out (with the help of these angelic social workers of sorts) & is able to leave behind some messages about life to her loved ones. The characters would have been great in a regular-sized Keyes work, but in this short format they weren't given enough fleshing-out. But all in all, Keyes is always worth a read. She consistantly writes some of the most solidly entertaining women's lit out there.

the plot of the book was unique, but i expected it to be much longer. i don't think it was 10 dollars worth of enjoyment.

I love Marian Keyes. I bought this book because she wrote it and, yes, it was clear that this is really more of a long short story than a novel. So I was forewarned. What disappointed me was how sloppy it was. The Kindle version was a mess! It was full of typos such as words running together likethis. Suddenly in the middle of a page would be MARIAN KEYES stuck in there for no discernable reason. Whoever put this on Kindle didn't seem to care much for the experience of the reader. The story itself is, as I said, a nice little short story, but way below the usual quality of Marian Keyes' work.

No plot spoilers in this review (unlike others). I love Marian Keyes and bought this book despite the lukewarm reviews. I neither regret nor am pleased with the decision, and I'm no better off for having read this book.

What no one said in the previous reviews -- and what would have been helpful to know -- is that this book is part of the "Open Door Series." Look it up on Wikipedia.

Apparently it's an Irish series aimed at improving adult literacy. The novellas must meet certain parameters: limited number of words, limited vocabulary. No wonder the book was woefully simple and lacked depth, and no wonder no one has ever heard of it before. Keyes is always an enjoyable read, but this time she fell short. I think she could have done more even within those parameters. For such a short novella (even as far as novellas go, this was VERY truncated), there wasn't even a particularly powerful message. Now I see why, but it still could have had more of an impact than it did. I wish someone had addressed this in previous reviews. It's really not meant to be a "short, powerful message" book -- rather, it's a "short, easy-to-read, adult-literacy" book, almost like a children's book. Also, Keyes ripped off ideas from some of her other books -- which also makes sense, considering that the target audience is unlikely to read her other books.

It should not cost nearly as much as it does, but it's an interesting read for a Keyes fan, I guess. That's the best I can say about it.

Bottom line--this is a 79-page short story (and those small pages have large type and large margins). I read it in less than 20 minutes, and though it was a decent story, it belongs with the small gift-like, inspirational books you find near the registers at B&N and Borders, not here as a $12 book. I own all of Keyes' books and have read (and reread and reread) them. She is an amazing author. I recommend her to everyone, but was so disappointed in this. No Dress Rehearsal should be part of a collection with either her works or with other authors. Go find it at a book store and read it in the aisle--it won't take you long.

I'd like to read this book when it's been fleshed out into a full-size story.

The OPEN DOOR SERIES are books written by Irish authors for adults learning to read. I tutor for adult literacy and my students loves these books. When you finish with these books please donate them to your local literacy program.

Eh...not my favorite but an easy read. I finished in probably under an hour. I would rather spend money on a book that lasts me at least a day!

I love Marian Keyes and this story was entertaining. I have to say though, had I noticed it was only 79 pages long I would not have bought it as the price was way too expensive for something of that length.