Customer Reviews

Getting Over It

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I really enjoyed reading "Getting over It," it was fun and light, easy to read and very easy to fall in love with all the characters. The author successfully delineates each character and you immediately feel like you know them. They felt very familiar, in a good way! I hope the author continues to write about the trials and tribulations of being young and finding your way in the world. This book definitely left me wanting more!

I absolutely loved this book! By fluke, I bought it in the airport to read on my vacation without really knowing anything about it. It didn't take long for Maxted to make me laugh & pull me into her story so much that I had an impossible time putting it down! Personally, I thought it was funnier than Bridget Jones (I found because there was so much hype surrounding that book, that Bridget just couldn't live up to my expectations).
Getting Over It, however, made me laugh out loud and went above and beyond what I had hoped for in a light and funny chick-lit read. If you like romantic comedy/chick-lit and are looking for a fun, fresh book, then don't hesitate: get ahold of Getting Over It as soon as you can...I would reccommend it to anybody! :)

Flailing, farting, wriggling, whining, squeaking, shrieking, sulking, squealing, and bleating. Drinking tequila till she wets herself. Reacting to a death in the family with histrionic self-pity, then failing to produce a drop of sensitivity toward either her fellow mourners or her improbably tolerant coterie of friends. Mucking up- again and again and AGAIN, for reasons as slapstick as an average "Three's Company" episode- her chances for love with a saintly, gorgeous veterinarian.

Sound lovably quirky? Exhausting is more like it. Sound funny? Well, yes, parts of it are a riot. But this book's protagonist, Londoner Helen, who is 26 going on 5, is one of the most maddening characters I have ever come across. I couldn't ever really like her, even when I sympathized with her problems. She was just too self-absorbed, too cartoonishly silly; very little else comes across, try though the author might. Then there's her mother. Is she supposed to be an object of pity? Infuriating? Funny? Probably all three, but in truth, I couldn't tell. She never cohered into a person I recognized, and making her a (talented) kindergarten teacher strains credulity. There is no way a woman who behaves like this one does- unable or unwilling to care for her own young child, for Pete's sake!- would have chosen such a profession.

Indeed, most of the book's characters are insufficiently imagined. Why make Marcus such a hissy-fitting gay stereotype, when he's supposed to be a womanizer? Exactly what would make the wise Lizzy dote so tenaciously on the feckless and often unkind Helen? There's a reliance here on grindingly obvious, "Just when you thought you were safe- here comes another catastrophe!" plotting; and an uneasy tone results from trying to graft serious "issues" and even gratuitous scenes of brutality onto the screwball infrastructure.

Yet, there were a few nice, original moments, like the poetic Chinese ritual Helen uses to help reconcile herself to her father's death. I loved some of the dialogue- who can resist the phrase "enormous great plonking plonker"? Or calling an eyepopping sum of money "650 squids"?

For those who loved Bridget Jones, this book will supply something approximating that book's rollicking humor and vivid sense of place. What it will mostly do, however, is make you appreciate anew how endearing, and convincing, a comic creation Bridget really is.

The book Getting Over It by Anna Maxted is about a 25 year old woman named Helen. In the story, Helen is in the world out on her own, with a job at a magazine, and a recently ended relationship, when suddenly her father dies of a heart attack. As Helen's world begins to turn upside down, she meets a new guy, Tom, in a very unusual way. Things start out good but soon turn hectic as Helen's world twists and turns in a new unexpected direction, and through the rocky road, you can never know how it will end. This was a great story, with laugh-out-loud humor that was really fun to read. The laid back writing style and some of the crazy random things within it, gave this book the right components, to make me unable to put it down. I'd recommend it to those who want a fun read, and anyone who enjoys a good story about life. This book is definately worth your money.

I can't help but compare this book to Bridget Jones -- same character type (young British woman, mediocre job, unlucky in love, parental problems) -- which is why I was kind of disappointed in it. I did enjoy it to an extent, and thought there were a few funny moments, but for a truly enjoyable read of this genre I would say Bridget Jones blows Helen Bradshaw out of the water.

Several scenes were just a bit farfetched and Helen herself became more annoying than quirky. I would not call this book a waste of time, but would not say it was one of the best I've read lately.

Read it if you have the time, but don't make time in your schedule for it.

As a 20-something Singleton myself, I tend to gravitate toward books like this. "Getting Over It" is marketed as another "Bridget Jones," which I (and the rest of the single female population) loved. Maxted fails to create something lovable here, though, and instead introduces us to a character whose little quirks aren't so much endearing as they are annoying. The subject matter gets down-right gutterish (lots of talk of bodily functions and penis sizes). It is funny in sections, and Maxted has potential, but I would skip this one and read "Girls' Poker Night" by Jill Davis.

I expected a much better work after reading some of the reviews in here. Far from being hilarious, I think the appropriate descriptive adjective is "disturbing." Despite the maxed-out genre, though, this book does have some original writing. The novel starts innocently and humorously enough ("enough" being the operative word) but as Helen's story unfolds, it reveals a family paralyzed by dysfunction, the humor not so much dark as unaware. Helen becomes less attractive as the novel wears on (rather than talk, she "bleats") and the fact that she even has a love interest becomes more and more implausible, as we watch her lash out at the poor soul and then read his equally nasty retorts (when they've hardly even dated yet!). I was surprised Ms. Maxted was able to bring things together enough to write an ending. I think the book demonstrates talent, but I wish it had been directed toward achieving something more worthwhile.

This is a great book, that I personally have recommended to my friends. It has a slow start, but by the end of it I couldn't put it down. The character development made you want to know more about them! Personally I wouldn't mind reading a second book about Helen and her life!

Overall, I loved this book!

Don't even bother with this one - it's really bad. There are so many other good brit chick books out there - leave this on the shelf!

I could only stomach 3 chapters of this waste of type and paper. I have read several books in this "genre" i.e, Bridget Jones, Good in Bed, Jemima Jones...and enjoyed them because I LIKED the main character. They had "heart"...this character has no heart ,is ultra critical of everything and everyone. I really gave it a chance having read so many glowing reviews..., but really. I like fun, but fun is NOT mean.