May 1, 2009

Review: This One is Mine by Maria Semple



Two couples… four people on the path to destruction.

Stay at home mom Violet Parry has the perfect life on the surface but when it comes down to it she’s unhappy. Her rock band manager husband, David, is totally self-absorbed. He could care less what Violet has to say yet when she doesn’t share anything with him he gets moody.

During a Beverly Hills charity event she meets the ex-alcoholic and druggie, Teddy. A down and out bass player with poor hygiene yet she’s mesmerized by him. Soon she’s consumed by thoughts of him while David finds fault in everything she does and doesn’t hesitate to let her know it.

David’s little sister, Sally, is walking the thin line in between love and obsession. On her quest to find a rich husband she sets her sights on the next big thing in sports, Jeremy. He’s just made the crossover from writing a successful newspaper column to broadcasting on ESPN. But Sally quickly learns that Jeremy’s strange behavior is more serious than quirky.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned before that I mostly read fluff. My husband is always trying to get me to read more “intellectual” books but I truly enjoy the fluff and just can’t get into the books that make me over-think the story. That being said, I enjoyed This One is Mine but I really feel it was a little over my head.

I was expecting a typical chick lit book but the characters and the story had a lot more depth than I expected. I’m sure that someone who reads deeper books than I do would probably get more meaning out of the writing than I did. If you enjoy those serious reads then I highly suggest you make this one yours. Check out some of the 5-Star reviews on Amazon that touch on what I missed.

5 comments :

bermudaonion said...

I enjoyed this book more after I heard the author on Blog Talk Radio. It's just so hard to imagine how self-absorbed some people are.

Becky W. said...

This sounds interesting to me! Thanks for the review! I added it to my wish list!

Ladytink_534 said...

It sounds like it would be a bit over my head too!

Angela said...

That looks like an interesting book. Thanks for the review.

michaelsean said...

It is not my normal sort of read either, but I did enjoy it.