~ Curious Charlie ~

Book Review - Queen of Babble by Meg Cabot @ Wednesday, July 04, 2012

Lizzie Nichols has a problem, and it isn’t that she’s blowing her college graduation money on a trip to visit her long-distance boyfriend Andy in London. She just can’t keep anything to herself, including her indignation at finding out her beloved boyfriend hasn’t been completely faithful to her during their separation. She’s now out on the streets with no money and a non-changeable airline ticket home in exactly a month. Fortunately, Lizzie’s best friend Sheryl comes to the rescue. She’s spending the summer in the south of France catering for weddings in a romantic sixteenth-century chateau, and she’s able to sort Lizzie out with a job. One glimpse of the gorgeous Chateau Mirac, not to mention the equally gorgeous son of the owner, and Lizzie is hooked.

Meg Cabot is a great writer, most well-known for her series the Princess Diaries, made into two movies. For me the books were boring and I didn't like them. But some of her other work like the Victoria and the Rouge, Airhead, and The Mediator series was amazing. I loved The Mediator series and have most of the books. So for me Cabot can be a hit/miss, and Q of Babble was just that, a combination of her work or perhaps my preferences.

One day while browsing through the books at Goodwill, I came upon this book, and for $2 it was a bargain. While I love books, I try not to read them, because I have a very high tendency to read it in 2-3 sittings, 4hr+ sittings that is. :P Moderation isn't something I do well with novels, unless it's boring as watching paint dry, or an instruction manual of some sort.

The first part of the book, sucked. Lizzie the protagonist meets a guy, Andrew, and over 3mths they chat online, and she sends him "care packages". She then go to meet him (he's an international student, from London to Ann Arbor, Michigan) and he's not what she wants. As her friend Shari said, Lizzie is projecting what she wants in a guy onto Andrew. She goes on and on about how wonderful he is and that he's going to teacher kids to read and how wonderful that is. It's annoying. I thought she was 16, but a third way into the book it's revealed she's 25. For a 25yr old she's an idiot. She expected Andrew to have his own car and place. Which couldn't be further from the truth: he lives at home, no car, has a gaming problem, uses her (for both things) and is a jerk.

Part 2: She leaves Andrew, to join her friends in France. And things get much much better, your typical airy fairy chick lit stuff. She meets Luke (her knight), does what she loves (saves a wedding, by fixing the dress), pleases everyone and gets the guy. Andrew turns up, she believes it's because he loves her and wants her back, though he's just there for her money. Luke punches him (awesome part), and it ends with Luke & Lizzie having unprotected sex.

I suppose I liked it, but it's not my type, too airy fairy. My preferences involve less ditsy girls, more drama and action. I prefer Isabelle Merlin, Consumed, The Luxe, Bizenghast, Teach Me and some of Cathy Cassidy's works. Most of them are darker, intense and 1/3 of the time pretty. XD As I've heard The Luxe is Gossip Girl, in Old New York. But if you're into Cabot's other works, I'd recommend this book as a light read - though I read 2/3 of the book in one night.

*A pre-post. Been very busy & tired this week, so far, but a post on comic-con is coming up. :)*