How Was it for You by Carmen Reid, 0552151637, Lowest Book Price Finder

Customer Reviews:

Refreshing

"How was it for you?" is not normally the kind of book I would read but after being lent it by a friend and finding myself hopelessly bored one night I opened it up and began to read.

My initial thoughts where that the book was hard to really 'get into' but after a while I found myself actually caring about the characters and wondering what was going to happen next and I soon became engrossed in the story.

The book centres on Pamela and Dave, city dwellers who become bored of their surroundings, their work and their day to day lives and in an attempt to save their struggling marriage they move into the country to start new lives. Dave does his best to make things work whilst his wife turns to 'other things' to settle her boredom and unhappiness.

The book is funny and engaging with characters the reader can really relate to and whilst a little boring in places provides an enjoyable read.

Not as good as Reid's other books

Having enjoyed Reid's previous two books I sat down to read this one with relish, but was seriously disappointed! Firstly, the characters seemed much more two-dimensional than the ones depicted in the other books; I didn't feel as if you really got to know the real Dave and his reactions to the unfolding events didn't really ring true. I think the worst characters were Pamela's parents, who were portrayed as some bizarre 60s throwback and took Pamela's news extremely well, to be honest most parents would have acted completely the opposite. When I'm on the subject of mothers in other 'chick lit' books, why on earth are they always 'impossibly glamorous'? Can't mothers be depicted as normal women for once?

I think the central character of Pamela was quite well drawn, but I didn't really warm to her. I think the trials and tribulations suffered by the Carrs' when they moved up to Norfolk were well documented with a nice touch of humour. Although this book was not up to the usual Reid standard, I'm very much looking forward to the next one due out next month.

Another wonderfully enjoyable story

I have read all of Carmen Reid's books and How was it for you? was just as enjoyable as the last two. With a completely different story, but similar theme of thirty something, independent, good looking female with something missing in her life, this book is a wonderful light hearted read. It is upbeat and optimistic and leaves a feel good feeling while raising issues that many people could face.

A Satisfactory read..... but lacking a little something

I wrote a very praising review for Carmen's first novel, "Three in a bed", and went on to read "Did the earth move" followed by this little gem!

Carmen has a brutal honesty with her books that strikes a chord with me each time and I often think about her characters when experiencing something funny or emotional that relates to a plot or character situation in one of her books.

I took 'How was it for you' on holiday with me and read through it at remarkable speed. Pamela lives in the city with her husband Dave. She stumbles through each day in her work where she enjoys being an interior designer but her longing for more freedom and a baby takes over. Dave is crumbling in front of her and you soon see how waiting for something in life that doesn't appear to be happening affects men just as much as women.

Dave takes the bull by the horns and tries to turn their lives around by suggesting they buy a farm in the middle of nowhere.

Surprisingly Pamela takes to their new way of life but with drastic results. A little flirting with Lachlan, a local who she is helping with renovations, goes a long way and leads to a rather surprising turn of events.....

I love the idea of the book and I love the characters. As usual - Carmen's heroin is gutsy, confident and obvious, but the books lacks a slight reality check. If my husband and I experienced what the plot leads to in this book we would be up a certain creek for a long time without a paddle and would possibly never recover from it, however in saying that - maybe we could all learn from the character responses and actually be more like them rather than spend time being shocked by what appears to be too much of a fictional happy ending.

An enjoyable read that left me satisfied, but maybe a happy ending was sought after too much......... a realistic one would have been just as good.

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