Customer Reviews

Trading Up

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(29)

 

 

SAVE YOUR MONEY!!! This book is not worth anything. It is page after page of droning on about upper class and wanna be upper class NYC citizens who are under-developed characters at best. There is no plot really to speak of, as the author bounces around from character to character and flashback to flashback in the same chapter.

It is difficult to get through and in the end there was nothing that would make me say something good about the book!

The book seemed to start out interestingly enough, but as it dragged on and on, there wasn't much of a plot. It seemed like a slew of examples to further inscribe already explained characters. The dialogue between all of the characters was the same as well--the author painted all of them using the same silly, "upscale" language that no one really uses anymore, not in NYC! The book was unrealstic and seemed to paint a picture of power, riches and New York that only someone completley ignorant would believe. The characters were so black and white--and we all know the best characters are gray. The end was disappointing as well, with little impact. There were a few good lessons to be learned from the book, and it provided mediocre entertainment value, but for the most part, my advice is not to waste your time

I found myself needing to read on thought at times I though that I might actually scream at the characters in this book. I hated Janey and at first struggled to turn the pages, however it took less than six days to finish. In the end I felt I understood her, though I would not have made the choices she did I knew why that had been the path that took her to where she wanted to be.

So....If you are looking for some savy sex and the city story where some things are a bit much for the conservitate taste, yet overall it is all fun and games do not buy this book.

If you want a good fast book where the ups and downs will take your breath away....then happy reading to you.

Janey Wilcox is a modern-day Lily Bart: beautiful, slightly connected and determined to emerge as a scion of society. With updated strategies and a refusal to be beaten down, Janey uses everything within her powers to defeat the powerful men, women and social structure that threaten to pull her back into her middle class roots (or at least into obscurity).

Candace Bushnell understands human drama and New York society better than any mainstream writer in the current publishing world. Creating characters and situations that make the reader eagerly turn pages while cringing with shock, Bushnell successfully delivers the hierarchical world that is New York - with none of the pretentious, apologetic or hack "insider" views currently popular in today's "literary circles".

This isn't for the "chick-lit" culture: Leave Prada and the Nannies on the shelf. "Trading Up" delivers in the style of "The House of Mirth" (and will create in the reader a desire to read the older classics of New York society fiction).

I've read a few chapters and even though there is no specific plot in the novel it's a very good read and a page turner for the ladies. I couldn't put the book down and I just had to keep going. I'm gonna be giving it as a gift to someone. I love the whole fashion, expensive purchases etc. because I could never afford the amount of stuff that those ladies purchase. I like that it's a chunky book that will take a person a long time to read.

Janey Wilcox is a self-centered model/actress and as the title suggests always trying to trade one step up on the ladder of fame and fortune. I admire Ms. Bushnell for bucking the trend of heroines in need of character growth. Unfortunately the author never makes this character interesting enough for anyone to care. Nor does one care about any of the characters. They are flat, dull and inconsistent despite the settings and the fabulous clothes. Ms. Bushnell's writing style is repetitive. Her dialogue is lifeless. And one lengthy flashback actually has an embedded flashback leaving the reader wondering where the character really is on the time continuum.
I can't believe I wasted the money on this book.

I have read Miss Bushnell's other books and bought this one for a trip I went on. While starting out ok it just kept getting worse and I finally put it down without finishing it. Books should not be this painful to get through. The characters have no redeeming qualities and there are parts that drag on forever. Skip this book and read Sex in the City a second time.

You keep hoping Janey will have some redeeming qualities or will have an epiphany around her self-centered life.. but she doesn't. The book is entirely frustrating, irritating and unsatisfying, although it does provide a probably fairly accurate glimpse into the inner workings of New York City "society".

What a disappointment this book was. Granted, I had not read a Bushnell book and my only knowledge of her is the very wonderful Sex and the City on HBO, but I do know books and this was like a glossy depiction of shallow people in an unbelievable social setting. I finished the book only out of curiosity to see how she would wind things up, and ended up thinking, Who Cares? I'd never want to get to know these people and couldn't care less about what happened to them. It read like a corny nighttime soap on Lifetime. I'm not impressed with Bushnell's writing at all and cannot recommend this book.

I have read Candace Bushnell's previous books and enjoyed them and found them funny, unfortunately Trading Up did not live up to my expectations. I did not like the main character, or really anyone in the book, and felt no connection to the characters. The plot was dull and boring with no humor. The ending was seemed to have no climax, and instead just fizzled out leaving me feeling like this is how it ends? I would not recommend this book to any of my friends and caution anyone else who buys it even for "beach reading."