I've had this one sitting on my shelves for a good while now it seems, but with my birthday coming up in just a few days, the candles on the cover of this one inspired me to finally pick it up. 29 starts with Ellie celebrating her 75th birthday but being kinda bummed about it, feeling like her life has largely been a waste. She's recently widowed, feeling like she never really and truly loved her husband, she has a difficult relationship with her daughter and finds herself envious of her granddaughter's seemingly carefree lifestyle. Ellie makes a wish on her birthday candles that she could be 29 again, just for one day, to once again (or maybe for the first time, really) feel like an attractive woman full of life. She wakes up the next day to find her wish has come true. While she admits she's been given an extraordinary gift, she can't help but feel guilty for wanting to run off and enjoy this new lease on life forever. But will the wish extend beyond one day?I found this to be a cute, light story with some food-for-thought moments here and there but it didn't blow me away. I found Halpern's simile / metaphor game a little on the weak side and some of the dialogue I thought was a little clunky, a little too Hallmark movie for me.I did find myself really liking the friendship between Ellie and her lifelong best friend, Frida. In the early parts of the novel, the reader is led to believe that Frida is the oblivious, feeble-minded sort but I liked that later on she shows that she's not as out of the loop as people seem to think. She still has an innocent nature to her, but the girl can hit you with some truth with her observances. I liked the conversation between them when Ellie asks Wouldn't you go back if you could? and Frida's all like "Nah, I've lived that life, and I lived it with my man, what fun would it be without him there with me?" I kinda melted a little over that :-)I did like how this book actually did have me thinking about my own grandmother a lot, wondering if she ever looks back on her life the way Ellie does, feeling like she missed out on things. It also made me a little sad that my grandmother and I have not had more opportunity to spend quality time together, at least not since I was a kid. There was also something about this novel that made me think it could easily have a book-to-movie adaptation, maybe because of its similarity in theme to movies like 13 Going On 30. In the author interview after the novel's end, Halpern mentions that she has a masters in screenwriting and is married to a fellow screenwriter (and I'm guessing she bounced plot ideas off him here and there), so I guess that explains that! But overall, this one was just alright for me, breezy but sadly, largely forgettable read. Not only that, but there were just a lot of moments that I was surprised to find brought down my mood while reading, what with all the life disappointments being hashed out. Maybe not the best pick for a birthday read, but still not a bad read. I literally forced myself to finish this book because it was a selection for my book club. Besides, I was determined to conquer it even if killed me, which it almost did! The premise of this book is an interesting one, but beyond that, I have few positive things to say. The characters were shallowly crafted, and their dialogue seemed forced in an effort to pigeon-hole the characterizations for which the author was striving. Further, the narration and dialogue were so repetitive that I almost lost my mind! Here is an example: "I had been given a gift. I had been given the greatest gift that could be bestowed on anyone. It was a gift better than diamonds or a closet full of clothes or an extravagant trip. I had been given the gift of starting all over again with someone else." Gee, do you think the author wanted us to know that the main character had been given a gift? It would be one thing if this type of writing occurred once or twice within the pages of this novel; however, the repetitive nature of both dialogue and sentiment was pervasive and spread through the pages and across chapters like a plague! This novel and the ideas presented in it could have been condensed into a book of less than 100 pages at best! What made it worse was the fact that virtually NONE of the characters was even close to likable! With the exception of maybe Frida (a secondary character), they all seemed so self-absorbed that I did not even really care what happened to any of them! Do yourself a favor and avoid this book!
Do You like book 29 (2010)?
Great beach read. Funny and silly, but sentimental.
—Barbara
Loved this! Very "Freaky Friday" but so much more.
—sruthi
