Saturday, July 25, 2009

Review: Simply Irresistible

Simply Irresistible
by Jennifer Banash

It's hard to know where to start. The dramatic lives of the new TV show "DeLuxe" are fodder for Banash's latest title. Casey switched boy toys, Madison is fighting domestic change, Phoebe doubts her own feelings, Sophie adopts her birth mother. Banash does a good job of extending and inventing conflict for her series and no one can deny that "The Elite" isn't fun.

However, the characters themselves annoyed me and their lack of definitive action was frustrating. Drew's struggle with his wealth is an intriguing idea but the kid anguishes for the entire novel without any decision. The physical perfection alone in each and every character is surreal: teen girls do not all have aerodynamic metabolisms. I guess my main complaint with the novel is that it doesn't feel like a novel. It reads more like an elongated chapter in a Dickensian epic set in the Upper East Side.

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