First, I marked this as read, but I have not finished it.....nor do I think I will finish it. The premise was intriguing--a woman has a heart attack in her early 30's due to her morbid obesity, has bariatric surgery, loses 170 pounds and is putting a life together for herself. And to be really honest, when I picked it up, I thought is was by Wally Lamb. It was after I got it home that I realized it was Cathy Lamb, but I gave it a go based on the interesting premise. The beginning grabbed me where we find out why she ate and ate for 20 years, but the silliness and implausibility of her present situations ruined the story for me. Casual conversations between the main character, Stevie, her boss and another attorney while they physically wrangle screaming litigants was just ridiculous. That was strike 1. Then her coworker, Zena---too much. Totally inappropriate for the work place in which she was working. In spite of her photographic memory, I find it unbelievable that her shenanigans would be tolerated in a professional work setting---strike 2. Finally, her cousin's newest business venture--blow up dolls for men and the way she and her cousins related to each other--strike 3. I think to enjoy this book, you need to totally suspend any shred of reality. I tend to be conservative in my lifestyle, so much of the story was unappealing to me. I agree with some of the other reviews that their could have been more about the male interest Jake. I think that I like that Cathy Lamb left him a bit of a mystery the book the story wasn't about he and Stevie coming together it was about Stevie finding herself, finding forgiveness, and ultimately understand that the death of her Mother and sister weren't her fault. The story is about a 320 pound woman has a heart-attack at 32 years old and makes the overwhelming hard decision to have gastric by-pass surgery. Than comes to understand that her life issues aren't about what she'd been eating but more about what had been eating her all along. This was a deeply disturbing read for me because I so identified with the main character Stevie and her cousin Polly. Addiction especially food addictions are hard and disjointed. In the eyes of a person in the mist of such addictions they would see people in such black and white good and evil views. I am looking forward to reading more of Cathy Lambs books!
Do You like book Such A Pretty Face (2010)?
Interesting plot and set-up, but disappointing in terms of dialogue and development.
—Brandy
This was the first Cathy Lamb book I read and I absolutely love her books.
—catdenaux
I enjoyed this book. However, it was sometimes cliche.
—Jalisa
