Thursday, April 2, 2009

Enthusiasm by Polly Shulman



Title: Enthusiasm

Author: Polly Shulman

Summary: Julie has a best friend named Ashleigh. Ashleigh is an enthusiast; every once in a while she gets a new obsession and throws herself fully into it, dragging Julie along with her. But when Julie's passion Pride and Prejudice is Ashleigh's latest craze, Ashleigh emulates everything about the 19th century (speech, dress) and worst of all a quest for her "Mr. Darcy". So Ashleigh's attempt to find him leads them to the local boys school meaning love, but who for?

Thoughts: Who doesn't have a friend like this. I found Ashleigh a charming and cute character, but she could bridge to annoying every once in a while. I also at times felt like this book was more about Ashleigh than Julie and at other points she felt absent. Julie is a good character but she is a bit clueless and doesn't seem to be sure of herself. I liked the hero in this book also. As for the plot, even though we have a touch more insight than Julie, there are some things I think that she should have picked up on. The plot' is super-good and gets quick, exciting, and a bit suspenseful at the end. I did find the pacing plodded at the midway point. There was also a kissing scene which I felt was really awkward. Overall it was cute, sassy and I like the offbeat incorporation and references to Pride and Prejudice. Carolyn Mackler fans, this is right up your alley. 

Cover: The cover is gorgeous, it has a nice colour scheme, a good title treatment and a nice image. I'm kinda miffed that Ashleigh is our cover girl and not Julie.

Rating: 3 stars 

PS: For Canadians this is a Chapters/Indigo bargain book, its $2 for the hardcover!

14 comments:

  1. Sounds pretty good! Love the picture!

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  2. Yeah ^_^ her first book too ^_^

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  3. I had a friend like that. We had some very crazy adventures!

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  4. Ooh. I love the idea of this book. Sounds interesting.

    p/s ; U have really beautiful eyes :)

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  5. Lenore: She sounds fun!
    Tiqa: Thanks ^_^ It was a really unique book

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  6. I've been meaning to get this for ages, thanks for the review!

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  7. You really should fear the zombie chickens.

    Pick up your award on my blog.

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  8. hey i saw you have the countdown for Willow on your blog, and wanted to make sure you saw this:

    www.gettingtoknowwillow.blogspot.com

    come and party,
    Lauren

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  9. Yeah, she's the one I went to Europe with. She's more settled down now, but still crazy on the inside.

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  10. Thanks shootingstar^-^

    Your adventures sounded really crazy ^_^ friends like this always make everything more fun!

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  11. Wow! Only $2 bucks? I might pick this up!

    Thanks for the review!

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  12. Yeah, Chapters sure seems to have lots of sales lately!

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