Saturday, February 19, 2011

Fishbowl by Sarah Mlynowski

No spoilers.

Title:
Fishbowl
Author: Sarah Mlynowski
Year of Publication: 2002
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 360
First Line: "Allison, Jodine and Emma are going to set their apartment on fire."
Summary: Allison can't wait for Jodine and Emma to move in to her apartment -- until she realizes having roommates means living in a fishbowl. You are never alone. When one small, sightly accidental fire leads to one big repair bill, all efforts to avoid each other are finally abandoned: They've got to raise money. . .fast ("Insurance? You mean you have to pay for that?"). This means joining forces. Bonding? Well, at least they're talking to each other!

Amazingly, they agree on a plan: shamelessly exploit their conbined expertise on the male species for hard cash. Tactics: sell tickets to their swanky soirees and How To Pick Up Women seminars. . . . But their grand scheme sweeps away any last shreds of privacy with startling consequences. Now that they're forced to take a long hard look at themselves, Allie, Jodine and Emma's lives -- and budding friendship -- are about to change in ways they never imagined.

Source: Back of book

Review: Just as with Milkrun, Mlynowski captures the 20-something female voice spectacularly, except this time her characters have a little more life and personality to them. Part of what makes this novel so interesting is her ability to show characters through the eyes of other characters. This totally changes your perspective on how you see each of them, and makes for an all-the-more interesting conflict. The story is hilarious and the boys are fantastic. A great book to share with friends!

Worst part: I think some of the characters (Jodine's boy, for example) were somewhat underdeveloped.

Best part: The general cleverness of the book. The last page blew me away, and the title does too, after you've read it.

Grade: A

Other Books by This Author: Milkrun


3 / 100 books. 3% done!

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