Here I Go Again
By: Jen Lancaster
Release Date: January 29th, 2013
Publisher: NAL
Genre(s): Chick-Lit/Humor/Fiction
Review copy provided by: Edelweiss
My
Review: (4/5 stars*)
Here I Go Again is a wild ride full of laughs
and a self discovering journey of fun and heartbreak. It took me a little while
to get into this book because the main character was very self-absorbed but
once I did everything started to make sense. It's fun, fast paced, and a very
enjoyable read for chick-lit fans. After scanning its synopsis I instantly
wanted to read it, and little did I know it was more my style than I realized.
Here I Go Again has a critical scifi twist that makes the story all the more
fascinating.
Lissy Ryder is in her mid-thirties and up until now she thought her life was pretty perfect...until her husband divorces her, she looses her job, and her condo is taken. She finds herself back at home living with her parents in her old teenage bedroom wondering how her life ended up the way it did. Everything seems doomed until her best friend Nicole tells her they have there high school reunion coming up which inspires Lissy to create a game plan—one that consists of getting back everything she lost. She starts up her own PR business with the sole mission of landing her old high school classmates as clients; only the wealthy and famous ones. However to Lissy's dismay she figures out that being the number one mean girl in high school doesn't earn you any favors from the people whose lives you helped destroy—inadvertently or not. But hope's not lost when she runs into a former classmate that offers Lissy a way to right her past wrongs-an elixir that can take you back in time to the day when everything started to go wrong and the moment that sent Lissy's life on the path to self-destruction.
The concept is hardly new as it draws off of Mean Girls but that doesn't make the story any less entertaining. Lissy's younger self was pure evil and her older self was hardly any different but when she witnesses her acclaimed "glory days" the second time around it's with a new perspective—one of pure horror. She starts to realize that her treatment and teenage behavior towards other students wasn't okay and she has a lot of redeeming to do only it doesn't quite go the way she was expecting. Here I Go Again had its funny moments along with sadness, joy, and hope; a pleasant mixture of swirling emotions.
I really disliked Lissy a lot in the first quarter of the book and didn't think I'd be able to read on further but I gave it another chance and I'm really glad I did. Lissy's journey is a bumpy one and I loved seeing her transform into a respectable human being. In many ways Here I Go Again was very realistic especially some of the high school situations she finds herself in. In school I've seen firsthand the mean girls scenario play out and reading this reminded me of the ugliness that teens and people are capable of only in this story there's salvation to be found through the eyes of the bully. This book is more than just comedic chick-lit it delivers an important message to people of all ages and that's to be respectful to everyone and it's never too late for redemption—even if its just yourself that needs convincing. The ending left me with a happy feeling but I wish there was more to it because it was sadly abrupt which was my only real disappointment along with Lissy's attitude and awful behavior in the beginning. Overall though a great read for Adults and "Mean Girls" fans alike. It really surprised me how much I liked this book, it was unexpectedly good and I hope to read more of Jen Lancaster's works in the future.
Lissy Ryder is in her mid-thirties and up until now she thought her life was pretty perfect...until her husband divorces her, she looses her job, and her condo is taken. She finds herself back at home living with her parents in her old teenage bedroom wondering how her life ended up the way it did. Everything seems doomed until her best friend Nicole tells her they have there high school reunion coming up which inspires Lissy to create a game plan—one that consists of getting back everything she lost. She starts up her own PR business with the sole mission of landing her old high school classmates as clients; only the wealthy and famous ones. However to Lissy's dismay she figures out that being the number one mean girl in high school doesn't earn you any favors from the people whose lives you helped destroy—inadvertently or not. But hope's not lost when she runs into a former classmate that offers Lissy a way to right her past wrongs-an elixir that can take you back in time to the day when everything started to go wrong and the moment that sent Lissy's life on the path to self-destruction.
The concept is hardly new as it draws off of Mean Girls but that doesn't make the story any less entertaining. Lissy's younger self was pure evil and her older self was hardly any different but when she witnesses her acclaimed "glory days" the second time around it's with a new perspective—one of pure horror. She starts to realize that her treatment and teenage behavior towards other students wasn't okay and she has a lot of redeeming to do only it doesn't quite go the way she was expecting. Here I Go Again had its funny moments along with sadness, joy, and hope; a pleasant mixture of swirling emotions.
I really disliked Lissy a lot in the first quarter of the book and didn't think I'd be able to read on further but I gave it another chance and I'm really glad I did. Lissy's journey is a bumpy one and I loved seeing her transform into a respectable human being. In many ways Here I Go Again was very realistic especially some of the high school situations she finds herself in. In school I've seen firsthand the mean girls scenario play out and reading this reminded me of the ugliness that teens and people are capable of only in this story there's salvation to be found through the eyes of the bully. This book is more than just comedic chick-lit it delivers an important message to people of all ages and that's to be respectful to everyone and it's never too late for redemption—even if its just yourself that needs convincing. The ending left me with a happy feeling but I wish there was more to it because it was sadly abrupt which was my only real disappointment along with Lissy's attitude and awful behavior in the beginning. Overall though a great read for Adults and "Mean Girls" fans alike. It really surprised me how much I liked this book, it was unexpectedly good and I hope to read more of Jen Lancaster's works in the future.
Synopsis:
Hilarious new fiction from the New York Times bestselling author
of Bitter Is the New Black and If You Were Here .
Twenty years after ruling the halls of her suburban Chicago high school, Lissy Ryder doesn't understand why her glory days ended. Back then, she was worshipped...beloved...feared. Present day, not so much. She's been pink-slipped from her high-paying job, dumped by her husband, and kicked out of her condo. Now, at thirty-seven, she's struggling to start a business out of her parents' garage and sleeping under the hair-band posters in her old bedroom.
Lissy finally realizes karma is the only bitch bigger than she was. Her present is miserable because of her past. But it's not like she can go back in time and change who she was...or can she?
Twenty years after ruling the halls of her suburban Chicago high school, Lissy Ryder doesn't understand why her glory days ended. Back then, she was worshipped...beloved...feared. Present day, not so much. She's been pink-slipped from her high-paying job, dumped by her husband, and kicked out of her condo. Now, at thirty-seven, she's struggling to start a business out of her parents' garage and sleeping under the hair-band posters in her old bedroom.
Lissy finally realizes karma is the only bitch bigger than she was. Her present is miserable because of her past. But it's not like she can go back in time and change who she was...or can she?
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