Customer Reviews

Testing Kate

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Kate Bennett chucks her staid fiance Graham and heads to Tulane University Law School in the Big Easy. She doesn't really want to be a lawyer, but strives for the security she's sure a law degree will provide. Bad luck on the way down causes her to miss orientation, which in turn makes her unprepared for her first day of Criminal Law with the obnoxious and egomaniacal Professor Hoffman. He singles her out and proceeds to make her first year at Tulane grueling.

She finds solace with her study group which includes her sexy neighbor Nick. An attraction between them is instant, but she doesn't want to get involved so soon after breaking up with Graham. When Graham returns to the picture and proposes, Kate has to decide between playing it safe and going for her dreams. Along the way, she meets eccentric author Armstrong who provides additional enlightenment and comic relief.

Gaskell's fourth novel is another great character study of a woman on the verge of 30 in search of her own destiny. Secondary stories such as hook ups among the study group and an attempted suicide give added depth, though the character of Nick could have been more fleshed out. Gaskell has a keen eye for witty dialogue, which moves her stories along, making the reader feel like more than an observer.

I loved this fourth book by Whitney Gaskell. It offers up more of the fun, relatable characters and clever dialogue of her previous books. Kate Bennett is a first year law student who must face the realization that playing it safe isn't always playing it best. Though a law career and a long time boyfriend may offer Kate the security she craves, she soon discovers true happiness likely lies elsewhere. With the help of her new friends--especially handsome, sweet Nick--and her hysterically quirky boss, Kate finds the courage to leap from safety to her real dreams. Taking place at Tulane Law School, Testing Kate is sprinkled with fun pre-Katrina New Orleans flair. This is another must read from Whitney Gaskell.

I really enjoyed this book. It wasn't all cheesy and all fluff like some chick lit can be. This bordered more on a fiction than a romance. I liked how realistic it was and how the main character, Kate Bennett, handled her situation.

I've read this authors previous books and have liked most of them. I look forward to reading more tfrom this author.

When she was attending college, Kate Bennett became an orphan. To survive her grief, she accepts a job and a boyfriend, neither of which truly turn her on. A few years later as she nears thirty, Kate decides it is time to take a three meter dive into life. She quits her job, ends her relationship with nice Graham, and treks from Ithaca, New York to attend law school at Tulane University. On the travel south, she has a problem that makes her miss orientation and is totally unprepared for martinet Professor Hoffman's criminal law class, who tears into her shaky psyche.

Kate joins a study group consisting of beautiful brilliant Lexi; kind hearted Jen; inane Addison; teen Dana; and hunk Nick. However Hoffman continues to terrorize her making her first semester more difficult than necessary. The nasty Prof also gets his brand of ugliness aimed at her and her friends with a second semester class. Meanwhile as Kate copes with Professor maliciousness and finds Nick attractive, she tries to help her friends like Dana who attempts suicide and Jen whose secret keeps her from sharing how much she loves Addison.

TESTING KATE is an intriguing coming of age tale starring a young woman trying to finally finding herself at law school. Kate and her group are fine characters struggling at law school and with life as the audience will want to know what happens to them. Though Hoffman is a caricature of the ugly professor as he is too extreme even for a despotic professor, readers will enjoy the inevitable confrontation between him and Kate in this fine pre-Katrina contemporary.

Harriet Klausner

It put me back in the Con Law class wondering what the hell Marbury v. Madison was about and why I should care other than it was bound to be testable. For folks thinking of law school, this is a good introduction and breezy fun. I don't know if people not interested in law school will get all the way through it.

This story was engaging and entertaining. It is definitely worth it. I've read all of Gaskell's books and I really felt she went in depth with the main character; my only annoyance is that she didn't really develop Nick's character or the way Kate felt in regards to him. I still recommend.

I've read several other books by Whitney Gaskell at this point, and I really enjoy her as an author. I was a bit hesitant about this one after I read the description, but decided to go ahead and buy it due to enjoying some of her other books. However, I would have to say I enjoyed the other books I've read more than this one. The characters aren't as enjoyable as some of her other books, and the overall story is a bit frustrating at times.

Despite supposedly trying to completely change her life, Kate doesn't really seem to be trying too hard to do that for a good portion of the book. Admittedly, something like that can take time, but it was rather annoying to watch her try and (mostly) slip back into her old life almost immediately. She states she wants to change her life, but almost immediately goes back to what's secure to her and pretty much refuses to try much. I think I would have enjoyed this a bit more if she had been making more of an effort for most of the book, as opposed to spending most of the book clinging to her comfort zone before all of a sudden realizing that's what she was doing. Given her reluctance to change initially, it doesn't seem gradual enough.

Also, several of the characters in this book are somewhat annoying. I especially didn't care much for Lexi, and could have done with a lot less of her. (Or without her, for that matter.) And the fact that Kate doesn't seem to make what I would call good friends with anyone struck me as a bit off, too. It seemed like there was potential with Jen, and it almost sort of happened, but then petered out. And despite her and Nick supposedly becoming friends, they never really seem especially close. Kate just doesn't seem to want to be close to much of anyone. I couldn't even connect with her very well as a reader. She's just rather blah for the most part.

It's not what I would call a bad book, but Whitney Gaskell has better ones. Ultimately, I don't think it was worth what I paid for it, and would recommend her other books over this one. (I have read all of the ones published as of May 2011 except for Pushing 30, and enjoyed all of those more than this one.)

I have read almost all of this authors' books. They are good for an easy light read.

I have read many chic lit books and love the genre, but this book didn't really offer anything unique or special. There were a few humorous moments, but otherwise it's a story you've read many times before.

Quick, fast, fun read! I really have enjoyed all Whitney's books and look forward to the next one. I enjoyed the exploration that Kate went through w/the relationships she had w/the men in her life and the success she finally found in her life. Never ever according to plan but that's half the fun!!!