photo via electricfeast.com
I’m an avid reader, so when I heard about the "Well Read Woman" instagram challenge from Curlbox creator, Myleik Teele, I definitely wanted to get in on the action. The challenge was to read one book within 7 days and to share with other challenge participants funny moments, great quotes, or bits of the book that affected you.
When I picked "Revenge Wears Prada" as my choice, I knew I was in for some good info to share. Boy, was I completely wrong.
I remember the novel's, Prequel "The Devil Wears Prada" as being pretty good. If you’ve ever worked in the fashion industry or even just had a terrible overbearing boss, you could certainly relate to author’ Lauren Weisberger's loosely autobiographical fiction account. I remember being at the movie theatre, quickly reading the last chapter while waiting for the film version to begin. ...and the movie did not disappoint. Meryl Streep KILLED her role of Miranda Priestly and Anne Hathaway portrayed main character Andrea "Andy" Sachs, equally as well.
Therefore, you can't even imagine my disappointment as I read this sequel. To begin, the story line was absolutely horrible. I don’t want to spoil the novel for everyone that has yet to read it, however from the beginning to the end, the entire premise (which honestly had very little to do with showcasing the relationship between Andy and Miranda) just seemed ridiculous. For example (spoiler alert!) the beginning of the book focuses in on Andy's wedding jitters and thoughts that her husband Max has cheated on her before the wedding. She’s sad. She cries. She vomits. Then we find out she’s pregnant, and somehow all of a sudden she doesn’t hate her new husband anymore, and then we're back to another storyline within the story (her cheating husband saga really never to be revisted). In my opinion, this entire first section was absolutely pointless. Were we suppose to, at that time, begin the process of disliking Max? What was the purpose of this part?! Come on Weisy... what were you thinking?
Furthermore, not only are certain parts completely unnecessary but the story line is choppy. Weisberger jumps from present to future to past to... I can’t even go on. Sometimes she seems to even leave out entire lapses of days... whole events even. A character would become aware of an action, yet as a reader, I was left wondering, how said character even became in the know. The characters were all very confusing.
And then comes my main pet peeve... Multiple use of the same word/phrase. Who is Weisberger's editor, and how could he/she allow this to run? How many times can I read about how "delightful" something is? or how "fantastic" something is? How many times can a baby show me her "rosey cheeks" accompanied by a "toothless grin"? Like... SERIOUSLY.
As a huge fan of chick-lit, I've read the likes of many books from a variety of authors, with Emily Giffin always leading the pack of my favorites. Although I didn't purposefully read Weisbergers' book in comparison to any of Giffin's, I did realize that there is a major distinction in the two authors. Weisberger's ability to build amazing characters is... let’s just say, nonexistent. [ I wouldn't call the creation of Miranda Priestly to be all that good, considering she was based off of an actual person- Anna Wintour. ] Anyhow; This is where Giffin excels... She has the ability to create, expose and exhibit layers upon layers of any particular character's emotion, leaving readers feeling so connected to them... feeling like we've known them for ages... We are in their heads... we hear them internally speak about their life happenings without using the same descriptive words multiple times, because...honestly... that makes them sound FAKE. I hate to be a ball buster, but this is again, my opinion. Weisberger completely missed the mark with this book, and it’s a shame.
-SBG
photo via refinery.com