Helpful Score: 18
Oh, I loved this! This is a follow up to Good In Bed, only it takes place 13 years later. Main character Cannie is just as witty as she's been, and she's even more comfortable in her plus size body. Daughter Joy who was just born at the end of Good in Bed is now a pre-teen and struggling through that awkward time of life. I love that we've gotten to see these characters again.
This book is about women and family and relationships and pushing through the hard times and doing the best that you can with what you've got. Read it!
This book is about women and family and relationships and pushing through the hard times and doing the best that you can with what you've got. Read it!
Helpful Score: 11
First, let me say that I loved "Good in Bed", "In Her Shoes", "Little Earthquakes" and "Goodnight Nobody"...so I was really looking forward to this new book! But I found "Certain Girls" to be very disappointing. It was not a page turner for me at all, though I did finish it. I didn't find the end to be very satisfying either. I found Cannie's character to be annoying and just over the top. I agree with another reader who said that the story seemed too forced. Maybe this was Weiner's attempt to ride the coat tails of "Good in Bed"...knowing that readers loved that book and would jump at the chance to read more. Unfortunately, many will be grossly disappointed.
Helpful Score: 6
I enjoyed this book a lot, but to me, it felt a little bit forced, and wasn't as enjoyable as "Good In Bed." Weiner does a good job of illustrating the difficulties that teenage girls and their mothers encounter, but I felt like Cannie's feelings weren't explored as fully as they might have been. It was a good book, but it pales when compared with "Good In Bed."
Helpful Score: 6
This was definitely an enjoyable read, however I was a bit disappointed. Since the book featured the witty & funny character Cannie from "Good in Bed" I had high expectations. Cannie's character in "Certain Girls" was almost bordering annoying, as she presented as an overprotective, neurotic, mini-van driving mom. Despite my disappoint in the characters change in personality, I would recommend this book. Also, since I read "Good in Bed" about 4 or 5 years ago, it was difficult for me to remember some of the references made in the book to the first novel...my advice, if you haven't read "Good in Bed" recently I would recommend reading that again first.
Helpful Score: 5
I love Jennifer Weiner's novels and this latest is no disappointment. I disagree with other reviews indicating that the book is predictable as I found it anything but predictable. The book did not take a conflict and tie everything up in a nice cute bow to make everyone happy. There are good times but there are a lot of difficult and incredibly tragic elements as well. I like enjoyable fun books and while this book was overall an uplifting experience, there were a lot of sad and very real elements in the book which made me connect with the characters. As a mother, I could relate to a lot of what the protagonists felt and it gave me a little heads up to raising a teenager...yikes! If you enjoy thought provoking and entertaining material, you will love this book