Customer Reviews

The Frog Prince

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

You gotta kiss a lot of frogs to discover who you are. That's what I loved about this book. It wasn't about our heroine trying to find a guy but learning about herself. The title is deceiving. Don't expect a romance with The Frog Prince. This is a story about a woman trying to find her place in the world after it's been yanked out from beneath her in a divorce she never saw coming. Holly's journey is a beautiful, realistic tale that had me laughing and crying and thinking "Wow, I'm Holly." This is Jane Porter's first foray into mainstream fiction and she makes an entrance. I'm not a big fan of chick lit, but I'm a fan of Ms. Porter's. For life. Fantastic.

Meet Holly Bishop. After the devastating break-up with the gorgeous and smart Jean-Marc - who was supposed to be the Prince Charming she was to spend the rest of her life with - she is struggling to accept that she is already divorced at 25. Holly now lives alone and works as an event planner in the bustling city of San Francisco. When her boss Olivia accosts her one day and says she must either do something about her personal life or think about getting another job, Holly has little choice but to join Olivia and her friends for drinks out. Although the night is somewhat uneventful and humiliating, it does show Holly that it's time to take control of her life.

As she makes her way through the ups and downs of shedding some weight and going on some laughably bad dates, Holly decides to throw herself into helping plan a charity event that benefits hospice patients. The only problem is that Olivia doesn't know what she is doing, and if she finds out.. there will most likely be hell to pay - perhaps even her job. But Holly doesn't give up, even when the going gets extremely tough. At the same time, she learns that she isn't quite ready to give up on herself yet.

"The Frog Prince" was an absolutely wonderful read. You would never know that author Jane Porter has recently crossed over into the chick lit genre from romance. The book is subtle, sweet, sometimes sad, and sometimes funny- but always true to life. Porter did an awesome job at capturing the true angst of a newly-divorced woman trying to pick up the pieces of her life. The writing in this book flows seamlessly from one scene to the next, and Holly is such an interesting, slightly flawed yet likeable character that one will feel they are there, experiencing the things she does.

I couldn't find one thing about this book I didn't like. Even when Holly was at her lowest point, she didn't act like a wet dishrag or doormat - and that, in my opinion, is highly commendable in chick lit.

Overall - this is an amazing book!

I don't normally read much chick-lit, but thought I'd give this story a try - and am I glad I did! Jane Porter had me hooked by the end of Chapter One. Holly Bishop, with all her trials and tribulations, left me fascinated, but it was the "heart" of the story that really grabbed me. Holly Bishop could be any woman, and Jane Porter has written a beautiful story that reads utterly true and speaks from the heart. There's reality and truth and beauty sprinkled like fairy dust throughout the pages of this book, and the result is MAGICAL. Thank you, Jane Porter for sharing Holly's world with us all! I'll definintely be waiting for your next book!

The heroine is great! It is easy to feel like you are walking in her shoes as she marries the man of her dreams and instead of living happily ever after realizes early on that he is a shallow jerk. The marriage ends shortly after the first year and the gal chooses to shrug off everything familiar and relocate to a strange city. Like a wounded bird she goes through the motions of life. The story touches your heart. A good read.

(...)

"As a debut star on the horizon of the chick-lit genre, Jane Porter has made a stunning entrance with THE FROG PRINCE and her light is shining far and wide. THE FROG PRINCE will melt your heart as you accompany Holly Bishop on her journey through loss, pain and various other complexities of life to find the path of joy and acceptance once more. Gripping emotion, vivid descriptions and a beautiful character who wraps herself around your heart from the first page, THE FROG PRINCE is a story that will stay with you for a long long time." ~ Leena Hyat, Senior Editor, The Best Reviews

For some reason this reminded me a great deal of "If Andy Warhol Had a Girlfriend" by Alison Pace. Both feature sweet, self-doubting protagonists and crisp writing.

In The Frog Prince, Holly Bishop finds herself abandoned by Jean-Marc, her husband who told her on their honeymoon that he didn't love her. He files for divorce. She moves to San Francisco to start a new life as an event planner, but it isn't easy for her to make friends, until her mother forces her hand. Her co-workers force her to start dating again, which is disastrous at first.

Holly also works with a real witch who ends up teaching her to do "what's right." There is no moralizing, however.

I enjoyed this book a lot. Perhaps it is on the simplistic side, but I found that it was written from the heart, and the prose moved at a refreshing clip. Again, I would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Alison Pace's book, or anyone who likes quirky tales, or anyone who likes San Francisco.

What I loved about this book was how real our heroine, Holly, is. You identify with her immediately and take the journey of self discovery with her. Our 'good' girl realizes that perhaps it doesn't always pay to follow the rules, but does so in a way that is well thought out and believable. Holly is a good person and good girls can finish first if they are true to themselves.

Ms. Porter makes a strong debut into the chick lit market with this introspective look at the fairy tale myth and how to cope when life doesn't hand you a 'happily ever after' or better yet, how to love yourself enough to achieve the fairy tale ending all on your own.

A must read if you crave substance in your chick lit!

The Frog Prince readers are taken to a new realm in discovering who you are and this book takes "relationships" to a new level. If you were raised to believe in fairy tales and along would come Prince Charming, then you will definitely relate to this book.

It's an exploration into marriage, mother/daughter, sibling, friendship, and dating relationships.

Holly the central character has been raised to be the "good girl", don't kiss on the first date, have a good reputation and basically keep your innermost feelings to yourself. She felt she really didn't know her mother nor her siblings and for the most part in her family, on the outside looking in.

She marries Jean-Marc and thought this was an answer to her happiness. However, the marriage fails and she is empty and doesn't know how to ask for help from her family and friends. Relocation is Holly's only answer where she is now faced with a new city, new job and new friends. Here she learns there are no second chances and one can only move forward. Holly explores her past and what her future might hold.

This book makes the reader take a look at themselves as to why we need love, what makes a person special, do we suffer from family guilt, can we move forward and put past relationships behind and most important is there happy ever after? For the main character Holly, this was about learning who she was and moving forward. "It's the story of a young woman falling in love...with herself. She discovers that she is wonderful, she's always been wonderful, all she has to do is trust herself".

For me, this book hit right to the center of my heart! It was an exploration into my past, present and future as well. I sincerely recommend this book especially if you're a "Baby Boomer" and if you're not, this book will have a special meaning, I promise.

When I first started reading THE FROG PRINCE, I wasn't sure I'd like the heroine, Holly Bishop. Soon, I found myself cheering her on as she gradually sorted out her life issues and made her way from being deeply hurt to finding happiness. I loved how everything ended for her. I think there's a little bit of a `Holly Bishop' in all of us. My favorite part of the story occurred when Holly made a connection with her mother. It was very touching passage.

I found Jane Porter's THE FROG PRINCE an enjoyable read.

Fafa Demasio

This is an enjoyable enough novel. I moved to San Francisco from the UK 18 months ago so reading a book that is set in such a fantastic city made this one more interesting. The lead character is likeable enough and as with all chicklit novels, you know she'll end up living happily ever after.