This was our book club book for August. I have to say, I'm glad it was a quick read. I read it in a day. And I would have been upset to spend more time on it than that.
The basic premise of the book: little girl has imaginary friend named Michael until age 9, when, by the rules governing imaginary friends, he has to say good-bye and move on. Also per the rules, she is to forget about him. Well, she doesn't forget about him and spends the next 23 years feeling lonely and not very happy. Until one day, Michael runs into her when he is between "assignments". Yada, yada, yada. They fall in love and he goes from being imaginary to becoming human.
Okay, I didn't hate this book. But I do give it about 2.5 to 3 stars out of 5. It would only get 3 because its a very fast read and therefore doesn't waste too much of your time. This just really was not the book for me. I'm not into romance/sappy books too much to begin with and I'm a bit of a practical person. So the premise was just a bit too far-fetched to me to be even remotely believable. The "magic" that was supposed to be there just wasn't for me. I'm not totally against this sort of thing. Have you seen the movie The Lake House with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock? A "magical" mailbox that helps them communicate even though they are years apart in time. I did like that one. The premise seemed a bit far-fetched to me, but it worked in that movie. Maybe I would like this better as a movie, instead of a book. But even then, I don't know.
Also, one other giant annoyance. The woman on the cover of the book, who presumably is Jane the main character, has dark hair. In the book, the character has blonde hair. So they couldn't even get the cover right? Did the marketing people just miss that? I think the blonde hair is mentioned multiple times. Okay, enough time wasted on this one.
See also: Julie's review at Girls Just Reading
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4 comments:
I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed the problems with the cover! I noticed that right away. I'm glad I didn't spend a lot of time on this one, either, since the writing was so poor. I used to enjoy Patterson's books for a quick read. Let's hope his next ones are better.
--Anna (Diary of an Eccentric)
Oh, I hate when the cover artist or the person who writes the back blurb screw something up. Marketing or someone couldn't catch that? Sheesh.
This sounded so promising (I love the imaginary friend premise), but it doesn't sound like it panned out. Too bad!
Anna--Thanks for stopping by our blog and commenting! I actually haven't read any of Patterson's other books although, I've always wanted to try out the Alex Cross series. I know this was written along with another author, so maybe that is why it wasn't quite on par with Patterson's other books. I wonder how much he actually writes when his name is attached with someone else?
Allison--you might still like the book more than I did. With the speed you read, you could finish it in a few hours I'm sure. So if it does sound interesting, then you might still want to read it. I'll throw it in my box to you! :-) Just in case.
I am a fan of James Patterson. That being said, I have to say I DID not like this book. I finished it in a day though. Not because i didn't want to put it down, simply because it was a quick read, and I was curious to see if it got better....lol!
I think the fact that it wasn't really written by James Patterson had a lot to do with it. When working with a co-author he writes an outline, and the co-author goes from there, he reads it, makes some changes if need be, and puts his name on it. (excerpt from an interview with him) Having his name on it is the only way this would make a bestseller list. Probably the only way to get it published too.
I noticed the cover error too, and was told by a friend that I am too critical....lol. Glad to see I wasn't the only one it irritated!
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