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HowdyYAL

Howdy YAL!

I used to be the blogger called YAL Book Briefs, but I grew bored of the handle and changed my name to Howdy YAL. I also respond to MJ. I like to read, write, eat truffles, and watch bad Lifetime movies. 

I Heart New York

I heart New York - Lindsey Kelk To See Full Review Click Here: http://yalbookbriefs.blogspot.com/2012/07/i-heart-new-york-lindsey-kelk.htmlI liked this book, but it was what your stereotypical chick lit novel I thought Kelk had a nice voice and I liked Angela's perception of New York. I also liked the fact that New York seemed to be a character in itself in the book. But I did have some issues with it. Probably my biggest issue is how unrealistic the book was. Angela spends a ridiculous amount of time shopping throughout the book and there was little to no financial recourse from it. The same goes from her dating experience. It was a cute idea for a blog, but dating and sleeping with two guys usually has more consequences than it did for Angela. Another issue was found with how Angela talked about getting a work visa (as if it was going to be easy) that is not the case. Trust me, I took Immigration Law if I have to attend fourteen weeks of hearing about the joys of Immigration Law then it's not easy.Okay, so I'm being nitpicky. I know that chick lit is unrealistic and that it's fiction, but in a contemporary book I expect some sense of reality. But that wasn't my only issue with the novel. I thought the book embodied a lot of cliches that hate. Love triangles, check. Borderline Mary Sue characters, check. This was actually one of the things that most upset me was how borderline Sue Angela was. At the beginning of the book, I loved her character. She peed in her cheating boyfriend's bag which I thought was pretty darn epic if a tad bit gross. But as the novel progressed, I found myself liking her less and less. After a makeover by a new b.f.f., named Jenny Lopez of all things, everyone starts falling head over heels for her. Yep. Everyone. Her two boyfriends include a Wall Street investment banker who has a penthouse and a rock star. I am not joking. And....throughout the book we're constantly reminded how good of a person she and how nothing seems to be her fault.Look, I get that Angela is a good person. But I want a flawed character some one who I can relate to when I read. Not some character that looks like a model, makes every male within Manhattan fall in love with her, and does not find herself at all responsible for the fallout of dating two men. Plus, did I mention how everything is essentially handed to her it's almost groan worthy. These two issues aside though, I found the book to be a pleasant enough read. As I said before, I think Kelk described the city brilliantly. It almost felt as if it was a character itself. And even though I got annoyed with Angela several times throughout the book I still liked her.Best Feature: Great Voice: One of the reasons why I kept reading this book is because of Kelk's voice. I liked Angela despite her Mary Sue faults. And believe me there were a lot of them, despite what some of the characters in the book wanted you to think. And despite how unrealistic New York was depicted, in a strange way I sort of liked how naive Angela's perception of the city was. I will really give Kelk kudos for this.Worst Feature: Unrealistic: This book was ridiculously unrealistic. It's chick lit and fiction and I should expect that the book isn't going to be very realistic, but there were just too many groan worthy moments within the book. For example, Angela spent a ridiculous amount of the book shopping. I get that the British pound is far superior to the American dollar, but throwing $200 down every time you go out shopping gets expensive after awhile especially on a freelance writer's salary.Appropriateness: This is definitely an adult book. The language is adult, there is sex in this book, and there are other adult situations talked about in the book.