Customer Reviews

The Stepmother: A Novel

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

 

 

I read The Godmother first and really enjoyed it, so was excited to read The Stepmother, which is a continuation of Tessa's character. It had a couple new characters, as well as several of the same from The Godmother. It was nice because I already felt like I understood some of the characters already, but I was very confused as to why the spelling of Billy turned into Billie in the second book. It seems minor but this change in spelling really annoyed me--could the author not remember how she spelled a character's name?? I even went back to double check the spelling in The Godmother to make sure I wasn't losing my mind (and I wasn't!). Overall, though, I recommend this book, and I actually enjoyed the story line even better than The Godmother.

Let me start by saying I really liked The Godmother. I thought it was funny and I could not put it down. The Stepmother on the other hand is a complete drag. It still focuses on Tessa, but not enough. I thought the Bea character was dreadful and wanted to slap her the whole book. The author tries to introduce new characters and they just didn't fit while neglecting the old characters. The exploration of the James Kent character did nothing for the book...Tessa deserves better. I also think the reader was jipped by not being able to read about Tessa's wedding. If you read the 1st book I guess you can't help but read this one don't expect much though.

The step-mother bills itself as an idealized, friendly compitition between two women for one man and even has the gall to have the words "humorous yet achingly real." on the back blurb. If this is in any way real I do NOT want to know either of these women.

First of all, Carrie Adams is just one more 'wimsical british author' who has latched on to the Bridget Jones-train. In effect, she does not have to try to hard as long as she sticks to the formula that all women are competitive messes, who are sisters at heart and may the best-mess get the man.

Bea (the Ex) and Tess ( #2) are the same woman. Basically James, who is never developed past WONDERFUL and PERFECT, falls in love with the same woman. The only difference is that Bea is a self-loathing, over-weight, alcoholic, love-lorn washout and Tessa is the perfect, selfless angel that Bea used to be before she let herself go. Both are door mats and while reading this you will be maddened by the authors inability to give each woman her own voice. That's right, while reading this book you will notice immediately that Bea and Tess have the same tone and inflections to their thoughts and speech. By the end of the novel you will also notice that "sweetpea" is their term of endearment for everyone.

That is NOT good writing.

And the lack of originality , bogged down in two women turning themselves inside out for the elusive James is idealistic only in Hell

I enjoyed The Godmother and thought that this was a good sequel. It had some substance & portrayed the split family well.

In The Stepmother, we are treated with perspectives from 2 women: Bea Kent, the ex-wife, and Tessa King, the soon-to-be stepmother. The man in the middle is James Kent, and the children are Lulu (8), Mandy (9), and Amber (14). The reason behind Jimmy and Bea's divorce had never been dealt with properly, but they remained cordial for the sake of their children. The book begins post-divorce, through Bea's eyes, and we watch as she realizes how slobby she has let herself become and tries to rectify that situation. Jimmy, we learn, had been deeply in love with Bea and was crushed when she shut him out and took the children with her. However, he continues to be her knight-in-shining-armor when she experiences an emotional breakdown. Bea slowly finds herself falling back in love with Jimmy and thinks he might feel the same because he's been so sweet lately.

Just when she is about to reveal her renewed feelings for him, Jimmy gives her the worst news possible: He has finally met someone and wants to marry her. I swear, my heart got caught in my throat when I read that passage. Poor Bea!

Then we switch gears and dive into Tessa King's head. Always a godmother, never a mother - and now she has fallen head over heels in love with James Kent, divorcee and father of 3 daughters. What also makes her nervous is hearing about Bea's Superwoman abilities when it comes to household tasks and keeping the girls in line. How could she ever hope to compete? Would she live up to Bea's shining example? Could James and his daughters love her as much as Bea? Her insecurities endeared Tessa to me, and I found myself like James a little torn between the 2 women.

The summary alludes to Tessa and Bea finding out that they need each other. That, oddly enough, they understand where the other is coming from. However, this encounter does not happen until well past the halfway mark. And the encounter is nothing that I expected, and their future interactions are surprising as well. Yet we watch as Tessa and Bea both come to terms with themselves, with each other, and their love for James Kent.

Carrie Adams does an excellent job with capturing both women's perspectives to the extent where I sympathized with both of them. She delivers a wonderfully-written story that is totally believable and contains a touch of witty humor.

Tessa was a bit more mature than in her debut in The Godmother, but she still acted closer to her shoe size than her age. And though I did not think it was possible, Bea, the first wife, was even more unsympathetic and unlikable character. And again, for a book that is marketed as chick lit, there was very little romance involved. Once more, James was more of an idea, a figment of a man, than actual character. Really, the whole plot was a predictable cliche... And frankly, it made me hate the first book even more.
I will say that the book did have an interesting set-up and structure, with alternating chapters between the first wife and the fiancee... unfortunately neither character were likable and frankly, Bea was repugnant. No one likes to be reminded of the bad moments of _The Godfather_ movie... And at least Diane Keaton had a better reason than she was afraid to get any fatter...
It was a fast read, at least. But riddled with errors in the characters' ages, which was also quite distracting.

I thought this book took a great look at the agony, angst and payoffs of divorce and second marriage. It took a bit of time for me to get into it, but once I did, I thought it was really worthwhile.

I liked that the author didn't gloss over some of the really tough things in a relationship -- it was more realistic in many ways than lots of these kinds of books. It also made you realize what was at stake as well -- how wonderful and rewarding a good relationship can be.

I also read the Godmother, but given others' reviews, I gave myself time to forget much of it. I was then able to approach this book as an (almost) new book entirely.

Carrie Adams is a very talented storyteller and I look forward to reading more books by her!

I'd read so many books inbetween 'The Godmother' and 'The Stepmother' that I didn't realize 'The Stepmother' was a sequel until I was almost to the end. And a good thing, by the looks of the previous reviews.

'The Stepmother' was truer to life than I expected and had great character depth. In fact, the main characters took turns lifting me up and then ticking me off. I felt for Bea when she discovered she wanted her ex-husband (Jim) back. I felt for Tessa when she was worried about meeting Jim's kids and family. I thought Jim a bit more oblivious than some husbands/dads, but not unbelievably so. His saving grace being his ability and willingness to love.

If you're seeking a funny, light read, this isn't the book I'd recommend. If your looking for a book to carry you a way, this one comes highly recommended - I was able to lose myself in it while at the airport. What I appreciated most was the way Ms. Adams carried me through the raw, honest parts of the book and dropped me off once we came full circle. It wasn't a wave-of-the-wand, everything is better story. The growth of the characters earned them their happy ending.

As much as I loved reading "The Godmother", this book was a total disappointment. First off, she couldn't come up with all new characters for her second book? Sometimes keeping the same characters, but adding a few new ones, can work. In my opinion, it didn't this time. As much as I liked Tessa in the first book, she annoyed me in this one. Bea was just ridiculous, and James Kent was a total drip. Was he the best Tessa could do? Was she that desperate for a man? Time and time again she let him bury his head in the sand when she tried to point out the obvious. A waste of my time, as far as I am concerned.

Bea and Jimmy have a great relationship. They have three beautiful daughters ages 8, 9, and 14, and always seem to be there for each other. Also, they separated four years ago and divorced two years ago. Bea and Jimmy are the poster children for amicable divorce--that is until the day that Bea realizes that she's fallen back in love with her ex-husband. Coincidentally, it's the same day Jimmy tells her, "I've met someone."

That someone is Tessa King. Now, can I just stop right here and say that this is the second book in a row that I've read, and haven't realized it was a sequel until it was far too late to do anything about it. So, FYI, Tessa King is the protagonist of Adams' debut novel, The Godmother. It might have been nice to have known of her single girl looking-for-love back story, but truthfully I don't believe it's necessary to have read the first novel.

As I was saying, Tessa is introduced more than 60 pages in, which gave us plenty of time to really get to know Bea and Jimmy and see all that is good about their relationship. The first four chapters are all told from Bea's point of view, and I was rooting for her. Then, amazingly, the next several chapters were told from Tessa's point of view and I truly empathized with her! The novel switched POV between the two women every several chapters, and my allegiances continued to switch back and forth throughout the novel--through not strictly based on who was currently narrating. Sometimes I felt the most for Jimmy (or James, as Tessa calls him) and sometimes for the kids.

The point is, Carrie Adams did a terrific job of making these characters seem real and empathetic. Love triangles and modern family life are painful. I could really appreciate this difficult situation from all sides. I don't have to give a detailed synopsis of struggles with an unruly teenager, or family dysfunction, or second thoughts. I don't want to tell you the ups and downs these people go through. You'll want to experience that on your own. There's a lot of drama--which might stretch some readers' credulity--but it's no worse than what I've heard from people in real life.

Adams' writing is fine. I don't know that the London setting was integral to the story, but American readers may experience slight confusion over some references or slang. It's nothing too impenetrable. Overall, The Stepmother is an engaging family drama that occasionally veers towards melodrama. In a story like this not every character can live happily ever after, but as a man once said, "All's well that ends well."