Hey, hey! What a week this has been, right? I honestly wasn’t sure I was going to have a book review for you guys today because I’ve been recovering from a cold all week, and given the Tuesday night depression, I really just wanted to soak in my bathtub and cry until… well, until the next presidential election.
But, I am feeling better on all fronts, and last night, I cozied up with my book and a mug of cinnamon tea and I finished it around 9 pm. A win all around!
If you recall, the Book Club’s latest read, “The Regulars” by Georgia Clark was on my Fall Reading List – I immediately added it to my queue at the library and just picked it up a few weeks ago. I was looking forward to reading it, but I didn’t expect to enjoy it quite as much as I actually did. Here’s the scoop from Amazon.com:
Best friends Evie, Krista, and Willow are just trying to make it through their mid-twenties in New York. They’re regular girls, with average looks and typical quarter-life crises: making it up the corporate ladder, making sense of online dating, and making rent.
Until they come across Pretty, a magic tincture that makes them, well…gorgeous. Like, supermodel gorgeous. And it’s certainly not their fault if the sudden gift of beauty causes unexpected doors to open for them.
But there’s a dark side to Pretty, too, and as the gloss fades for these modern-day Cinderellas, there’s just one question left:
What would you sacrifice to be Pretty?
Wildly irreverent, blatantly sexy, and observed with pitch-perfect wit, The Regulars is fresh “compulsive reading from a bright new voice” (Brenda Bowen, author of Enchanted August) in fiction, perfect for fans of Jennifer Close and Kevin Kwan.
Sounds like a fun story, right? And it is. What I initially loved about this book was its ability to combine something I think most people wonder – what would it be like to be perfectly pretty? – with a bit of fantasy: a potion that makes average women modelesque and gorgeous for seven days.
Sure, fiction is fiction, but this was fantasy that we have probably wished for at one time or another, with a bit of realism, sex, and even humor (there are parts of this book that are laugh-out-loud funny).
Naturally, this book ties things off in a pretty little lesson, but it’s not cheesy or silly, it’s nice, and I believe it would be a realistic outcome, if we were all given this same chance of beauty and physical perfection.
I was surprised to learn that this is Clark’s debut adult novel (she’s previously published YA novels), and I’m already excited to see what she’s got up her sleeve – I would definitely pick up another book of hers, and would not be surprised if we saw these same characters in another storyline. It would be fantastic!
I am happily recommending this book to any lover of female fiction, or anyone looking for a tiny escape.
The next book Blanche’s Book Club will be reading is “Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison” by Piper Kerman. I haven’t watched any of the Netflix series because I wanted to read the book first! I am so, so excited to read this one, and you know I’ll be reporting the scoop right here next week.
Want to read it with me? I’d love to hear from you! Simply leave a comment on this blog, or find me on social media @OrangeJulius and let’s chat about it. After all, it’s the non-committal book club!
What is everyone up to this weekend? I am happily doing a whole-lotta nothin’ after six weeks of dance rehearsals, five weeks of teaching my blog class, and two weeks of volunteering, I am going to RELAX this weekend! I will probably do some reading, catch up on my DVR goodies, and do some cooking (I’m thinking enchiladas).
Happy Friday, all – have a great weekend and I look forward to seeing you right back here on Monday!
The Bitter Lemon 
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