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Customer Reviews

26 Reviews

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(2)

Average Customer Review

3.1 out of 5 stars (26 customer reviews)

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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This book is not worth your time!, July 8, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Room-Mating Season (Hardcover)

This book was horrible. If you have the misfortune to read Room-Mating Season, you will find yourself waiting throughout the entire story for the hollow and shallow characters to develop and for the plot to pick up pace. Unbelievably the author takes the reader through decades of four women's lives who never learn any signifigant life lessons or grow past the maturity level they possessed at age 23. The overuse of the word "albeit" made me want to scream and I am amazed that I even finished this garbage. My only solace is that I checked it out from the library and didn't waste anything more than time.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mesmerizing!, May 28, 2003

By

Janice (Arlington, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Room-Mating Season (Hardcover)

"The Room-Mating Season" deals with four young women, Leigh, Cady, Vanessa and Susan, who all had very different personalities came together to share a room in New York City. They all hoped to be successful and each had a different vision of what "success" is. The book chronicled their lives from early twenties to when they were in their sixties. Leigh, was the rational, career-minded one who strived to be a casting agent while Cady was the romantic, spendrift and at times naive schoolteacher. Vanessa worked as a flight attendant and found the occupation suitable for her needs for adventure and meeting new people. Susan, was the odd one in their group in the sense that she was quiet, eccentric and never quite fit in with the rest. Soon, one event happened that changed their lives forever and the decisions that they would make in future would be based upon that particular event.

The theme of the book is friendship and how they were there for each other through highs and lows. The characters may not understood the decisions some of the decisions that were made but regardless, they were always there for each other. I really enjoy this book because it was written very well, very thoughtful and just mesmerizing. Rona Jaffe also tried to chronicle the lives and mentalities of women in each of the decades starting from the sixties. At the end of the book, you would feel that you really know each of the characters and feel for them. This is not a chick lit book but definitely one written for the female audience. I highly recommend this book.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars chick lit with way too many flings going on!, January 20, 2004

By

mamareadssomuch "mamareadssomuch" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Room-Mating Season (Hardcover)

I did like this book but ended up rating it for the kind of book it was and less for the amount of interest I had in it. I gave up and just realized it would be a big book of infidelty and it was a 4 star with that as the main topic. I felt there were way too many flings going on - can't one of these girls date a single guy?

Cady - very annoying, jealous of her friends, and can't live without being incredibly needy. Dates and falls nutso for a married guy, Paul. She enters a LONG relationship with this one and her life passes her by.

Leigh - good at heart, I wanted to believe but then again fell for a married man.

Vanessa - ok but needed to keep having flings to see if she still had it. Please!!!

Susan - ultra freak. You just need to read this book to find out more.

Charlie - fifth wheel? He has some kind of secret..wait till you find out!

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars What's the message?
Here's a story that looks like a chick-lit coming of age book about NYC. Nah, it's not. Yes, it has young women in it. Read more

Published on May 11, 2006 by S. D. Haltzman

4.0 out of 5 stars Another Winner From Ms. Jaffe...
Ms. Jaffe has fast become my all-time second favorite author (Fannie Flagg being the first, who is unbeatable)! This is the third book of hers that I read and loved. Read more

Published on April 10, 2006 by Mercedes L. Johnmeyer

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing
This novel follows the lives of 4 women just starting out in the early 60s and follows them through their lives as 50something women of the present. Read more

Published on August 17, 2005 by Amey S. Tippett

2.0 out of 5 stars If I had a hammer...
...I'd attack these utterly static characters with it. At the beginning of this book, I found the three main characters -- Leigh, Vanessa and Cady -- to be young, naive, selfish... Read more

Published on June 8, 2005 by Earthling1

2.0 out of 5 stars dissapointing
This book was a total dissapointment. I would have given it one star, but I did keep reading 'till the end, so I guess it wasn't that bad. Read more

Published on May 25, 2005 by Kimberly

3.0 out of 5 stars Not great but worth the purchase price.
No, it's not the best Rona Jaffe book ever written -- and I've read them all. But it was a page-turner and kept me interested until the end. Read more

Published on September 28, 2004 by K. Hannsberry

3.0 out of 5 stars Just OK
If you compare this novel to Ms. Jaffe's "The Best of Everything"; "The Other Woman" or "Class Reunion", then it's not very special. However, even in a weak novel, Ms. Read more

Published on August 23, 2004 by SusieQ

3.0 out of 5 stars An Undercurrent of Strangeness
What was up with these girls? I kept comparing this book to The Best of Everything (which was much better, no question). Read more

Published on July 30, 2004 by TawnTawn

1.0 out of 5 stars What a piece of trash!
OK, I am not a prude, by any means, but this book was morally reprehensable! The main characters were all selfish, acting without consideration for anyone but themselves. Read more

Published on July 8, 2004

4.0 out of 5 stars Mesmerizing, but somehow left me empty
I did enjoy this book. Ms. Jaffe's writing style kept me eagerly turning pages. I was sad for Susan, happy for Leigh, and sorry for both Vanessa and Cady. Read more

Published on May 16, 2004

› See all 26 customer reviews...

Inside This Book (learn more)
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First Sentence:
It was late winter of 1963, and Leigh Owen, who was twenty-three and working as an underpaid secretary at the powerful Star Manage talent agency, was tired of living in a hovel. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Charlie Rackley, Miss Pierce, David Graham, Los Angeles, Susan Brown, Leigh Owen, Beverly Hills, Brewster Knowles, Steven Irving, Charlie Carlyle, Paul Fisher, Cady Fisher, Labor Day, Star Management, Upper East Side, Cady Fineman, Dunnewood School, Fifth Avenue, Worldwide Airlines, Four Seasons, Greenwich Village, Lower East Side, Madison Avenue, New Year's Eve

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