A Novel Idea by Aimee Friedman

Pages: 256

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Perspective: First Person

Age Group: Young Adult

Challenges: N/A

Release Date: December 20, 2005

Once upon a time there was a Brooklyn hipster named Norah. Unlucky in love, and short on extracurriculars for her college apps, Norah decided to start a book group. She knew the perfect locale -- a local indie bookstore with a crush-worthy cutie manning the soy latte counter.

When the first meeting arrives, Norah gets a page-turning surprise. The attendees may be bookish, but there are also a few hotties! Most noteworthy: sweet, literary James. He's like a modern Jane Austen hero.... Only, how to snag him?

Ever the romantic heroine, Norah devises a secret plan. And if it works, Norah may just find her "Happily Ever After" love story. The End.

Stars: 3/5

Cover: B+

Plot:

I didn't particularly favor this book. It wasn't horrible by any means, but it didn't really capture my attention too well, and it was not realistic (at least in my opinion of realistic-ness; everyone's is different). 

I thought the book was a little bit too cliche with the love story. It had a unique plot in the way that it was through a book club, which was pretty cool, but the way Norah (the main character) and James' (the love interest) relationship played out has been done thousands of times before, it feels like.

A Novel Idea was a quick read, though, and I finished it in one sitting.

Characters:

I don't really know how I stand with Norah. It's not that I don't like her, but I definitely did not agree with the way that she went around trying to get James to like her. She seems like one of those girls that you just shake your head at. 

She went to great lengths, hurting people along her way, to get James, and she was extremely selfish with her endeavors. 

I did like her at the other times when she wasn't on her missions to get James to like her. She was extremely dedicated to her book club, and didn't want to let them down. I liked that part of her.

James was cute, though I didn't really feel too connected to him because not much of his personality was revealed. I mean, sure, I knew he liked to read, and was shy, but there has got to be more to a person that that, right? I can definitely see though, if he had been more developed, how he could have been swoon-worthy.

Writing:

I wasn't completely enthralled with Aimee Friedman's writing. It definitely kept the story going, but there was nothing especially special about it. For example, there wasn't an amazing vocabulary used or exceptional cliff-hangers. But again, it wasn't bad by any means, either.

Ending:

This book is definitely one of those feel-good fluff-reads, and the ending completely solidifies that. It was cute, and tied up the loose ends in the book nicely.

Cover:

For whatever reason, I always think these types of covers for the little romance books are super cute. I especially like this one because of all of the books on it. ;)

The Final Verdict:

I think this book is cute, and it not a challenging read. I recommend this book for people that are fans of cheesy little romances, and like books about books.

FTC: Zoe.