Customer Reviews

Straight Talking

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

Ew. This book was just...gross. I was shocked, because I really enjoyed Jemima J. Apparently, Jane Green has really only managed one genuinely likeable protagonist. The main character in Straight Talking, Tash, is really vile. I don't even mind that she's slutty, but I really dislike how stuck-up and egocentric she is. Most of the book is taken up with Tash's endless whining about how her parents screwed her up (because her father had affairs when she was a child) and her constant statements about how hot she is and how every man stares at her with lust. I actually guffawed with outrage at one point towards the end of the book where she says she "even forgives" the reader for disliking her. That's a real laugh, but perfectly in line with her irritating personality. Tash also goes on and on about how slutty one of her best friends, Andy, is, and how "even with all of her faults, she's a good storyteller," and how dumpy her best friend Mel is, and how she (Tash) didn't initially think Mel was "good enough for her" because she was frumpy. Obviously, Tash is a fictive character, but the fact that this book compels me, a normally rather level-headed reader, to actively strongly dislike the main character and essentially root against her, is a real testament to Jane Green's inability here to create an even semi-likeable, realistic, or slightly sympathetic main character.

Another major problem I had with this book was its total lack of connection to reality. At times, I actually found myself wondering if this book had been written by a man. Some of the descriptions of Tash's behavior or her "lust" felt totally out of touch with how most women behave or feel. I know I'm not "everywoman," but I have never read a book that was so totally out of touch with how I as a woman, or even just as a human being, feel and act. Every book I've read, especially those in the chick lit genre, has captured some truths that I can really relate to, but I felt that Tash seemed more like a caricature of a horny young man, rather than a 30-year old woman.

I'll give Jane Green this--she can write some pretty steamy sex scenes. But it's not enough when you spend your whole time reading the book wanting to throttle the main character.

I love Jane Green. She is probably my very favorite author in the whole world. I have had this book for years (it was published in the UK ages ago) and I think that people are going into this book thinking it's new and will be up to her current standards. That is not the case. This is her very first book and only shows moments of her talent and brilliance. Later books really express how much she had grown and how very talented she really is.

That being said --- this book is still really good and right up there with other "Chick Lit" books on the market today. It holds it's own against those currently being published - but might pale in comparison to her previous offers. If you go into this as any other chick book - you'll be fine. Just don't think this is a NEW Jane Green book. You might be disappointed.

Cheers!

After reading Jane Green's poorly written but strangely engrossing novel, Jemima J., I decided to give her other books a chance. I am extremely sorry I wasted my time. Mr. Maybe started off well, but quickly dissolved into a boring, predictable, and forgottable mess.

Straight Talking, which is probably her worst novel yet, doesn't even start off well, and unfortunately, doesn't get any better. Reading these novels makes me realize that anyone can write a book and sell it, as long as it is badly written, predictable, and blah. Mrs. Green writes like I did in the eighth grade, not even bothering to hide her lack of talent. Her descriptions, if you can even call them that, are lackluster, and her dialogue is absolutely atrocious. Plus, aside from Jemima J., she has not created one single likable heroine. In fact, Straight Talking's Tasha, has got to be one of the most pathetic, annoying, and unlikeable characters in all of literature, which, if I had my way, this book would not be a category of. She falls in love with any man who lays his eyes on her, and gives in to pleasure within minutes of speaking to him, then wonders why she can't have a decent relationship, blaming her lack of love on her parents' divorce. A television producer should be smarter than that. Honey, perhaps you can't find a man because you've slept with all of England!

Tasha's friends all seem the same to me and I was confused as to who is who. All four of these women are cardboard, going through the EXACT same cliched problems and dealing with them in the same way. I could not tell one from the other and it bothered me how similar they are. Perhaps ONE best friend would have been more convenient, and saved the confusion. These women are stuck in very harmful relationships and blame themselves for it, and can't bring themselves to just walk away. It seems they are trying to deliberately ruin their lives by doing everything they shouldn't. It's pathetic and bothersome.

I just can't get into a novel where I don't even care about the characters, especially the heroine. She is the woman you always try to avoid at parties and want your boyfriend to steer clear of at all costs. A woman everyone is friends with, but secretly hates. Now, would you want to read a book about her?

This is being compared to a British version of Sex and the City, but I assure you it is not. It's a very bad novel written about a horrible person. Steer clear, you have been warned!

Jane Green writes what most of us only dare to think- not say. The tone of this book, and the raw portrayal of Tasha's feelings, the narrative voice, are what kept me reading. I was disappointed with the lack of attachment I felt toward all the supporting characters- there was a lack of description and understanding when it came to these key figures. I found myself wondering just why Tasha was friends with these people (perfect example is Andy whom she never says anything nice about), what bonded them together, etc.. Their descriptions were so shallow that I felt a total disconnection from them, and this left the book as a whole completely unmemorable. There were even lazy, cryptic suggestions of things that had happened in Tasha's childhood, which were then never carried out or explained. In general, everything that happens to these characters seems rushed and choppy- most likely because the reader never knows the characters well enough to understand why they do what they do.

The group of four wildly different girlfriends who meet for brunch at the same place every weekend was a lame and obvious (in your face!) rip-off from Sex and the City. Emma is Charlotte. Andy is Samantha, need I go on? Aside from the weak relationships, the book ended exactly how I knew it would from page six- but not without a few turns and surprises along the way. Given the amount of time that went into describing Tasha's relationship with Simon, I felt a bit jipped when he never appeared later in the story, especially given his friendship with Adam- it just seemed like there could have been a few more plot twists there.

For me, character development is what makes a book great. While this book was entertaining, it was nothing more than that.

Wow!!! Were it not for her steaming love scenes, this book would not have kept me going. I don't know how she does it, but Jane Green seems to tap into the "love-making" scenario wonderfully.

This book seemed to lack depth for me. I really enjoyed Jemima J. I have read every book of hers except for Babyville. That one is next.

I felt that Tasha was shallow and it bugged me to keep watching her fall into the same traps with her describing "passion" and how she felt it should feel. Then, when she finally lands the "perfect, beautiful, gentleman" that she has longed for her whole life, she blows the deal. Anyway, it seemed quite lengthy (except for the love scenes). It was very "chatty". I did enjoy her friendships, though.....Oh well, Onto Babyville......

I have read many books, and this is the first time I've actually truly related to a character. Tasha may be 30 and in London, and I'm 24 and in the Midwest USA, but we are not very different.

I read another one of the reviews, and it says that the character is unlikable. But I don't think you're supposed to like her. She's not supposed to be the perfect heroine of the other books. She has her insecurities, and she makes decisions that she knows that she shouldn't be making, but does them anyway, and she falls in love with guys that treat her like dirt. The whole book is about her discovering the important aspects of love and friendship.

I love the British humor, and the blunt, straight-forward writing when it comes to the thoughts going through the narrator's head.

I could not put this book down right to the end. I'm making all of my friends read it, including my best guy friend because I know he'll find the resemblance frightening.

This is by far the worst book ever written by Jane Green. The main character, Tasha, is so unbelievably vain, bitchy and superficial, making it difficult to finish this book. The story follows Tasha, who after her breakup with Simon of a few months, is searching for Mr. Right. In the process, she goes through many gorgeous men (mostly Simon's friends), visits her therapist (has mummy & daddy issues), and seeks comfort with her friends (whom she secretly envies and competes with) until she realizes the one for her is possibly right in front of her. What she does to him is so imaginable that I couldn't bear to read but finished this book, hoping she would get what she deserves.

The story drags on and on with no sense of time. Did 1 week or 1 month pass by? All we hear is poor-little-pretty-girl Tasha griping on about how great she looks, he looks, how her friends are pathetic, how great she is to her friends (yeah right).

I've always loved Green's characters but this one was just plain horrible!

I am not a fan of the drivel known as "chick lit", but I often give Jane Green a pass because she is amusing at times.

This book is not amusing. I HATE books written in that "urban hipster" book. I hate opening a book and know before the first chapter is out just what a glamourous and shallow life the protagonist leads and how great her clothes are and how good looking she is.

I couldnt sympathize with the decisions she made. I considered her awfully lucky (and her boyfriend awfully stupid) that she ended up happy in the end.

If you like this sort of thing, read "Mr Maybe".

Being English, I've had this book since way back when... I adore Jane Green (along with Cathy Kelly, Marian Keyes, Sophie Kinsella, Adele Parks et al) because she does chick lit at it's best.
Although this is one of the first of her books, it's the last I've read (Besides "The Other Woman) I read "Spellbound" first (I think it's been renamed "To Have and To Hold" for the US???) cuz I borrowed it off a friend. Loved it.
Greens books are light, easy reads and yes, the are superficial in places but, you know, what I don't want a deep and meaningful read! In places they can be very witty(British sense of humour and all that jazz) "Straight Talking" isn't her best book. "Mr Maybe" and "Jemima J" are, in my opnion.
But anyway, buy it. It's fun.

This book really is not as bad as everyone says it is. It isn't great, but not a complete waste of time. I can relate to Tasha: she's dreamed of her Prince Charming all her life, had a string of flings and bad relationships, gets a good guy but he isn't good or "wild" enough....and so forth. She is a big immature and her friends seem totally unrealistic. But it's not completely terrible. I would read "Being Committed" by Anna Maxted or a Shopaholic book instead, though.