Society Girls: More of that Brit Chick Lit

This week here at Brumbles Publications (if you can call a blog that even), we’re gonna switch it up! So far, I have reviewed dystopian fiction, young adult, an autobiography, science fiction, humor, and fantasy. Which, granted, isn’t too diverse, but hey, it’s better than reading the same genre every week. This week we’re reviewing chick lit!! Hooray! Something light and fluffy and not hard to concentrate on during finals week! And even better than that, it’s British chick lit.

Let me start off by saying one of the best, funniest, most entertaining and well-written chick lit books I’ve ever read is Playing James by Sarah Mason. (Holly Colshannon is a reporter for the Bristol Gazette and is assigned a piece that entails she follows Detective James Sabine around. Holly is clumsy, hilarious, outgoing and pretty impetuous. She is such a funny character, and naturally, chaotic and hilarious mishaps occur all around her, usually because of her doing.) I’m not reviewing that book because I read it a while ago and I just think you should read it, if you like a little Brit Chick Lit every once in a while.

The Colshannon adventures continue with Holly’s sister, Clemmie. Clemmie was an art appraiser until her boyfriend got her fired, so she took a year off to travel. Now she’s back in Cornwall to recover when Holly drags her into the missing case of Emma McKellan, who was a writer for the Bristol Gazette until she disappeared just days before her wedding. It’s like mystery lite, but with more eccentric characters and no murder. Of course, no book could top Playing James, so it’s tough to read a book by the same author and expect the same thing. But I’ll try.

Clemmie is a lot like her sister in the sense that she’s clumsy, headstrong, happy-go-lucky and funny, but she’s less successful career-wise and she has a very eclectic sense of style. To me, she was the slightly odder  but no less lovable one of the pair. Just because she wasn’t Holly didn’t mean she wasn’t endearing. Holly, on the other hand, was more subdued than in the first book. Perhaps it was because we were seeing Holly from another character’s point of view and we couldn’t hear the running monologue in her head or get her perspective on events. Or, maybe it was because Holly had to be toned down a little to make Clemmie shine. Either way, you get the effect that this isn’t another book about Holly, but Clemmie was the focal character. It is her book after all.

I loved the main plot of locating Emma because there was just as much hectic chaos and interesting turns of events. The rest of her large and eccentric family is more present in this book, and as I am from a large family, I can relate to that aspect. Except for the animals. We did not have a zoo in my house at any time. The romantic aspect of the book was predictable, but that is to be expected. I mean, come on, that’s the point of chick lit. People wouldn’t read it if it weren’t predictable. I mean, could you imagine a chick lit (not a drama book, there’s a difference) where one of them dies in the end or middle? 

Oh wait, that does exist! Introducing,Nicholas Sparks: killing off characters in Chick Lit since 1995. 

So if you’re looking for something to read on the beach, or in your room, or on a bus, or pretty much anywhere, but you just want to be along for the ride in a funny British rom com book, I would bring Playing James and Society Girls. I can guarantee you will laugh. Unless you have no sense of humor, in which case, get off my blog and go buy one.