La Vie En Rose for 2005 July 21

This started off as a post on Undomestic Goddess and turned into a long-winded post on HP. Who is surprised?

The new Sophie Kinsella book sucks, and I am disappointed.

It could be worse, though. Always the optimist, I said to mom, I could be one of those people who are disappointed with JKR for not writing Harry and Hermione as a pair. I could be refusing to read the seventh Harry Potter book because I misread all the character development that clearly indicated Harry and Hermione are BFF but not MFEO—I could be throwing away the entire fascinating series because the romances didn’t turn out as I hoped they would (I know you all are laughing because I’ve made such a big deal of it, but I figured out why it’s so important to me, and I’ll explain that below).

I’ll give Ms. Kinsella another shot. When Shopaholic and Baby comes out, as it inevitably will, I’ll read it. But for her next non-Shopaholic novel, I hope she tries a new approach. The “girl digs herself in a hole and only digs deeper trying to get out and cover her previous lies/mistakes but comes to a miraculous conclusion” concept is getting a teensy bit old. Undomestic Goddess is like a poor man’s Can You Keep A Secret? The heroine lacks the charm and motivation of Becky and Emma, and therefore the humour, while the crucial elements stand, is a bit lacking in resonance. The romance seems feels contrived. I may skip ahead to see if it gets better, but right now I feel it would be a waste of time to keep reading.

I’m going to stop here, for those who I know have not yet read the book—their copy is sitting in pretty wrapping on the Chinese cabinet—are lurking about. I’m posting the rest in the comments, so John & Susie and Alyson probably, and anyone else who’s not done, don’t read it!