Book Review : Unlike A Virgin by Lucy-Anne Holmes

Title : Unlike A Virgin
Author : Lucy-Anne Holmes
Release date : 15th September 2011
Publisher : Sphere
Source : Purchased

Rating : 5/5

Is Gracie in love for the very first time? You know that bit in The X Factor, when the singer tells everyone about the rocky road they travelled to pursue their dream? Well, that’s Gracie Flowers’ story. Gracie is very focused for a woman of almost twenty-six. Her favourite book is ‘The 5-Year Plan: Making the Most of Your Life’. And her five-year plan is going very well. That is, until she is usurped from her big promotion by a handsome, posh idiot; she is dumped by her boyfriend; and discovers her loopy mother is facing bankruptcy. Hormones awry and ice cream over-ordered, a dream Gracie thought she’d buried ten years ago starts to resurface. A dream that reminds her of the girl she used to be and everything she wanted to become.

If you see this fabulous novel on the shelves of bookstores, please DO NOT hesitate to pick it up and skim the back. Ignore the price and choose the copy you think is perfect, whether you like battered books with cracked spines and folded covers, for me, I like my books in mint conditions. After carefully selecting a copy, walk over to the till and pay for it. Then go home and wrap it up in a plastic cover or you could just dive in. For me, I had to wait until my SPM examination to end, something like GCSEs in the UK and SATs in the US. I read it after reading I Heart Vegas and I. Loved. It. I finished it yesterday and I was left with a warm feeling, a fulfilling desire to read it all over again, which I will be doing, and also a feeling of dread because I know I’ll miss Gracie Flowers.

Firstly, I loved Gracie since the first page, she is such a lovable character, strong and independent. Her view and opinion on things are really funny and surprisingly, very relatable. I loved how she talks to herself in the mirror every morning, has a laminated list of her 5-Year Plan in her bathroom and her amazing ability to blow people away with her beautiful voice, of course, it’s a book, so how do I know how she’s so good? Lucy has a very unique way of describing her character’s emotions and feelings. Gracie loves her family, which are only her parents; Rosemary and Camille. Throughout the novel, readers will be introduced to the intricacies of Gracie’s life, her as a child who loves music to her falling head over heels for Danny Saunders. I don’t want to ruin it for you, but there are some twists and turns in the book that will keep you guessing.

The thing I love most about Gracie is that she’s feisty, she loves her job as a real estate agent, a very good one she is. I hope I’d be like her, so happy to go to work and make money. Ahhh, and the characters in the book are really funny, mainly Wendy, Gracie’s best friend who is downright hilarious. I love her always being there for Gracie when she’s pregnant and feeds her ice-creams. Lots of ice-cream. Then there’s Anton, the owner of the bar, The Festering Carbuncle who’s a total sweetie, who Gracie fancies. The only thing is that he’s a bit old for Gracie, seeing that he’s 10 months younger than George Clooney, you get the sentiment? Aside from this wonderful cast of stars, there’s Posh Boy, who isn’t very much fancied by Gracie, also known as John Whasit or “John-Rah-Rah-Posh Boy”. This book had me smiling and grinning and laughing and also close to tears. It’s amazing how Lucy could do that, isn’t it?

The story is narrated by Gracie herself on how she deals with her father’s death, her mother’s sudden change for the worse and her passion for music and singing. Then having a baby suddenly makes everything all right, because she stopped singing after her father died and the plot thickens as Lucy leads you through the ups and downs of life, how her life had change and her flailing relationship with her mother. Lucy did a fantastic job, as she pours every bit of love into the novel. I loved it, I have to say. I loved it. It deals with love, hurt, forgiveness and letting go. Although the cover for Unlike A Virgin is pretty and eye-catchingly beautiful, the contents of it will blow you away, it’s a lot darker than other chick lit books in the market, a lot better, in fact. It’s been a very long time since I’ve read such good chick lit. It promises laughter, joy, heartbreak and tears, and I loved every bit of it. I would like to say that Lucy-Anne Holmes has made it to the list of favourites and I’m looking forward to read her previous books which are impossible to find in my country and her upcoming book, When Mother Came to Visit which will be releasing in September 2012.

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