Certain Girls: A Novel Reviews

• This is NOT chick lit

  
  By AAR8E3JF9K93P on 2008-04-08
  I absolutely loved Good In Bed (some of the best chick lit I have read) - and was delighted when I saw that this book would continue (at least partly) from there.
  
  I don't know what happened, but somewhere along the line Weiner started getting boring for me. 'Certain Girls' felt more like your standard 'woman's fiction' to me and less like the 'chick lit' that was 'Good in Bed'. Yes, I know that this book is not advertised as chick lit and there is absolutely nothing wrong with the standard woman's fiction, but I wanted chick lit and I feel cheated.
  
  The tone of this book is way too serious, the opening chapter is boring and way too descriptive and frankly, I could not get into any of the storyline.
  
  If you want some chick lit, this is not the book for you.
  
  

• Joyless sequel to the sublime "Good in Bed"

  
  By ANOBZWKE25SBY on 2008-04-22
  It's been thirteen years since Cannie Shapiro survived the humiliation of her former lover's public wrath to write her own best selling fictionalized tell all. Now she is battling with her teenage daughter over her upcoming bat mitzvah and trying to decide if she and husband Peter should hire a surrogate to carry their child. Cannie is living down her notoriety choosing to write sci-fi fiction instead. But daughter Joy is teetering on the brink of becoming an adult and just about everything about her mom embarrasses her - especially a certain book she has just discovered. When she starts acting up, she crosses the line and learns that perhaps her mom does have her best intentions at heart.
  
  Like many readers, I loved the wisecracking character of Cannie, who had her happily ever after with the hunky diet doctor, uh bariatric physician despite the odds. Unfortunately throughout the majority of this book, that Cannie is long absent. Daughter Joy was a pain in the butt, and I found those chapters told in her voice to be somewhat boring. Readers who didn't read "Good In Bed" might be a little lost due to all the references to characters and pets that appeared in the far more original first novel. This one is just an okay read, and unfortunately she incorporates a decidedly unhappy event at the end to preclude this reader from embarking on any further adventures with Cannie.
  
  

• Follow up to _Good in Bed_ doesn't quite hit the mark

  
  By ABXBWSPM6YHAI on 2008-05-18
  Jennifer Weiner first appeared on the fiction market with her novel, Good In Bed, a funny, smart look at modern life as viewed by a woman who's coping with stuff that the majority of women live with -- treacherous boyfriends, the constant battle with our weight, and a refreshing attitude that most of us could sympathize with.
  
  Now with Certain Girls, more than a dozen years have passed since the events in Good In Bed. Cannie Shapiro is happily married to Dr. Peter K, and the very proud mother of her daughter, Joy. After her novel -- a thinly disguised memoir of her life -- turned into a runaway best-seller, Cannie has settled into a routine of being a mom and wife, and writing science fiction novels for teenagers under a pseudonym. Everything is going good, and that?s when the problems start.
  
  Joy, the darling of her parents, is hovering on the brink of puberty, and worse still, her bat mitzvah the dreaded rite of passage in every Jewish girl's life when she makes that transition between being a child and an adult at the age of thirteen. But she has other things to worry about - such as not being one of the 'popular girls' such as Amber, the perfect girl at her school. She?s also at that stage where her parents embarrass her mightily, especially her mother. Toss in the fact that she also hates wearing her hearing aids, and her grades are slipping, and Joy is heading for trouble.
  
  Especially when her Aunt Lucy - now calling herself Elle - comes to visit, intending to find Joy the perfect dress, Joy starts finding herself in a conflicting time. Now that suddenly she's being noticed by Amber and her crowd, she's losing her best friends, the twins Todd and Tamsin, and she is also reading her mother's best selling novel on the sly. Unfortunately for Cannie, Joy takes the events in the story entirely wrong, and things are starting to spiral out of control.
  
  If all of this isn't enough, Weiner throws in other plot conflicts, such as Peter and Cannie deciding to hire a surrogate mother to have another child (those who have read Good in Bed will understand why); Bruce, Joy's no-good-nik father is back; and there are a host of other problems, including the current overindulgence in party throwing as each parent tries to outdo the rest for the bar and bat mitzvah events.
  
  Finally, Weiner throws in one last twist that had me howling and throwing the book at the wall. Seriously. It was one of the meanest tricks to lay on a reader, and it left the rest of the story a severe disappointment for me.
  
  Too, there are several style problems with the story. One is the use of alternating first-person voices in each chapter, switching between Cannie and Joy. This tends to get very confusing, as it gets hard to follow as to just whom is speaking. While Weiner is able to keep the writing style frisky and full of verbal barbs and insights, her use of modern culture is going to make this a rather stale novel in about ten years or so.
  
  Overall, I was left feeling that this was just so coincidence heavy, and contrived, that I could not really enjoy it. At best it is a three star read, and that?s rather unfortunate, as Weiner can certainly write much better than this drivel, and I have a hunch that she was being pushed into writing a sequel to her first novel. That's too bad, as with a bit more care, and some trimming could have saved this story and turned it into a truly interesting tale.
  
  Unfortunately, this novel fits into that nebulous area that I reserve for books as a ?maybe? recommend. There is so much going on here, that when Weiner starts to wind up the story, the improbability factor starts to soar. It all comes down to how much you enjoy this author's work -- die-hard fans will read it anyway. But I would not recommend this for a first-time reader of Ms. Weiner's work.
  
  Somewhat recommended.
  
  

• ENGAGING READINGS BY TWO GIFTED ACTRESSES

  
  By A3M174IC0VXOS2 on 2008-04-10
  Mother/daughter relationships are a labyrinth of complexities - loving, angry, close, distant, confiding, secretive. Even more confounding is the fact that all of these feelings may occur within a 24-hour period. We are reminded of this in Jennifer Weiner's witty, insightful novel Certain Girls.
  
  Many fondly remember Cannie Shapiro first introduced to us in Good In Bed. She was then a handmaiden to fashion, and determined to make her mark in the world by writing. Her chosen oeuvre? A tell-all, racy but not real story of her life that flew off the shelves.
  
  It is now thirteen years later. Cannie is out of the spotlight and happily relegated to a question on Jeopardy. She's up to her ears in domesticity, married and planning her daughter Joy's bat mitzvah.
  
  Joy does not share her mother's contentment. After all, she is barely into her teens and navigating the shoals of junior high school. When she discovers her mother's long ago written novel it casts a new and surprising light on who she is.
  
  At the same time Peter throws his husbandly ingredient into the mix by announcing that he'd like to have a baby.
  
  Weiner's prose is as winning as ever and her humor delightfully barbed. Adding luster to the author's words are the engaging readings of two very gifted actresses Michele Pawk and Zoe Kazan.
  
  Tony Award winner Michele Pawk is a seasoned Broadway actress who has also received Drama Desk and Outer Circle Award nominations for her work. Her teaming with Zoe Kazan for this reading is quite a coup as it brings together two major talents.
  
  Daughter of screenwriter Nicholas Kazan and granddaughter of renowned stage and film director Elia Kazan, Zoe Kazan is a multi gifted actress with numerous television and film roles already to her credit. Her voice is aptly suited to the questing, questioning Joy.
  
  Highly recommended.
  
  - Gail Cooke
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• definitely not a beach read

  
  By ASGI7E0AJ8H5X on 2008-04-30
  I loved Good In Bed so I was really excited to find out what happened to Cannie and Joy. This book was a disaster. I am so disappointed to find out that the happily ever after that I'd pictured turned out to be so depressing.
  Were these books really written by the same author? How could you turn such a smart and fun character as Cannie into a smothering, insecure, out of touch mother?
  And I agree with previous reviewers who stated that the ending was completely unnecessary and ruined the whole story.
  
  
• Stop reading when you get to page 344!
  By A3KEZLJ59C1JVH on 2008-05-04
  I was very excited to read "Certain Girls," the sequel to Jennifer Weiner's bestselling novel "Good in Bed," which I liked very much. Although most of the book was a lot of fun to read, the ending left me very disappointed.
  
  "Certain Girls" takes place more than a decade after "Good in Bed." Cannie and Peter are now married and raising Cannie's daughter, Joy, who is now 13 years old. Cannie and Joy alternate chapters as narrators, and they have the kind of relationship that's pretty typical between teenage girls and their mothers. Joy thinks that her mom is an overprotective pain in the butt, and Cannie worries constantly about her daughter, especially when she notices changes in Joy's behavior. Meanwhile, Cannie struggles with the notion that her husband wants to have another baby with the help of a surrogate, and Joy eventally breaks down and reads the popular book her mother wrote 10 years ago. "Big Girls Don't Cry" is a sensationalized version of the events that led up to Joy's birth, and after reading it, Joy is so traumatized that she begins to question every aspect of her life. Eventually Joy embarks on a quest to discover the truth about her mother and herself.
  
  At first I wasn't sure what to make of "Certain Girls." I enjoyed the first few chapters, but everything about the novel seemed so predictable and obvious. However, Weiner is a pretty fantastic storyteller, and despite the fact that I had most of the story figured out right away, I was completely drawn in by the book's characters and the emotions that they experienced, which are all unbelievably honest and relatable. As I continued reading, I thought that "Certain Girls" may end up being Weiner's best book to date...until I got to page 344!
  
  The last 40 pages of this book SUCK! The events that unfold are so depressing and completely unnecessary. I think Weiner was trying to recreate the exact same chain of events depicted at the end of "Good in Bed," when baby Joy arrives prematurely and Cannie is unsure if her daughter will survive. I was so disappointed with the way Weiner regurgitated all those emotions at the end of this book, which was so stupid! I'm telling you, the ending of this book is what prevented me from giving "Certain Girls" a five-star rating. To be perfectly honest, a four-star rating is probably too generous of me.
  
  I'm sure many fans of "Good in Bed" will be eager to dive into this much-anticipated sequel, and for the most part, "Certain Girls" is a very enjoyable read. However, if you want to get the most out of this book, take my advice and stop reading after Chapter 36. Trust me!
  
  
• Weiner's Sequel Worth The Wait!
  By AZGTY0FYK2CY7 on 2008-04-08
  Jennifer Weiner's much anticipated sequel to Good in Bed does not disappoint, and we Jen Weiner fans have been waiting a long time for this one! When Certain Girls finally arrived, I hoped it would be as good as the first, and it is! It's possibly even better; and Good in Bed is one of my most favorite all-time books ever!
  
  With characters old and new, grown and mature, quirky and completely believable, you'll feel as if you want to know them in real life. You can sense the angst and turmoil of 13-year-old Joy as she tries to find her place in the family; tries to learn what it is to `become a woman' as she prepares for her bat mitzvah. I fell in love with Joy, found myself wanting to comfort her, and at the same time, shake her and say, "But your mother just loves you--that's why she's so crazy!"
  
  Cannie has grown up and while she is an overprotective mother, she just wants to do right. Sometimes she tries too hard, but again, it's just because she's a mom and she loves her daughter so much--that's why she's so crazy!
  
  I don't need to sell Jennifer Weiner fans on this book. They already know. There are loads of touching moments, laughable moments, and some especially unexpected shocker moments in Certain Girls. You will really have a varying mix of emotions when reading, but one thing's for certain, as it is with all of Weiner's creations ... you'll come away wishing you didn't have to close the book, wishing you could just go back for a little while and hang out with the people you just read about. They're that real. They're that good. She's THAT convincing!
  
  
  
• MORTIFIED HEARTBROKEN MAD!!!
  By A3T12MM3G4T73 on 2008-05-08
  I am so disapointed in this book. I love Jen Weiner, I loved Good in Bed and was thrilled to have the story continue. And it was a good story. The plot moved Cannie 13 years from young professional to middle aged mom and really touched on some importent issues about family and love and self acceptance.THEN BLAM!! BOOM!!! Out of nowhere this book just throws a curve that is stupid and un-needed.I assume there is another book because of the vauge ending. Seriously I was so mad I cried on the bus reading it and then threw it on the ground and stomped on it much to my husbands confusion.I have a husband on his way to Iraq for the second time. I AVOID books like this like a pox. If I had known what was goingt to happen I would never have bothered.SHAME on you Jen W I do NOT heart YOU!!The only way I will ever read the next book is if this stupid plot twist was a DREAM!!!
  
  
• She's back!
  By A14482T71JR6VU on 2008-04-11
  I love Jennifer Weiner's books, but the last two (Goodnight Nobody and The Guy Not Taken) were in my opinion big stinkers. I was looking forward to the sequel to Good in Bed as it is my most favorite book of all time. However, while I realize Cannie is older and has greater responsbility, I think she has lost some of her sassy luster I loved so much in the first book. I also really hate her daughter. I know that at 13 being seen with your mom is supposed to be super uncool but I guess I missed that phase.
  
  To be completely honest, I have not yet finished the book, but the fact that when I have to put it down to go to work I find myself looking forward to coming home and finding out what happens is a good sign. This book appears to be the comeback from the slump she seemed to settle into after Little Earthquakes.
  
  I recommend this book if you like Jennifer Weiner enough to plonk down the hardcover price, but don't expect follow along the same lines as Good in Bed.
  
  
• terrible sequel
  By AFNVADQWGX4KZ on 2008-04-29
  "Good in Bed" is my favorite book...incredibly insightful, funny, interesting, etc. This sequel was a huge dissapointment. I expected so much more....In Good in Bed, I fell in love with Cannie's humor. In the sequel, all she is represented as is old, boring, and fat to her daughter. The book did not flow, the story was boring and predictable, and the ending made me angry. Terrible book! Weiner needs to go back to her roots and write in the wonderful way she did in Good In Bed.
  Also, I must have been given a book that was printed before the final editing. There are COUNTLESS spelling and grammor errors filled throughout the book!
  
  
• A Sad Commentary on Contemporary American Jewish Parenting
  By A1437TO2OH8ERY on 2008-04-26
  I generally like Jennifer Weiner's books, and looked forward to this one hoping for another shot of her personal mix of warmth and humor, flecked with sharp flashes of insight. Unfortunately, except for the last third of the book, I was sorely disappointed. ...And that last third wasn't enough to redeem the rest.
  
  Certain Girls had the opportunity to examine the rocky relationship between a teenage daughter and mother, and to explore with humor and vision the ambivalence mothers face in dealing with the issues that teen daughters routinely bring home: peer pressure, crushes, boyfriends & heartbreak, boyfriends & sex, mean girls, popularity, etc. While Ms. Weiner made mention of most of these, she did so as no more than an aside.
  
  The only real topic of the book seemed to be Bar- and Bat Mitzvahs, and the outrageous excesses that Jewish parents appear more than happy to indulge in order to make the biggest 'splash'. She did make the point that Bar- and Bat Mitzvahs are religious rites of passage and indicated some misgivings about the over-the-top parties and entertainment, however it was too little, too late. By the time some sanity and solemnity was introduced I was already too disgusted by the seemingly endless recitations of the normal state of affairs pertaining to these coming of age parties to feel anything but antipathy for any of the characters. Even more sadly, the all-consuming, no-holds-barred portrayal of Bar and Bat Mitzvahs is frequently neither exaggeration or satire. I couldn't help thinking with each successive paragraph that the tens of thousands (and in some cases, perhaps hundreds of thousands) of dollars spent on these lavish events would be better put to use feeding several small, third-world countries.
  
  If Ms. Weiner meant Certain Girls as an indictment of present day American Jewish culture, she succeeded well. If she meant it as either an entertaining exploration of the complexities and misunderstandings comprising mother-daughter relationships, or even as a cautionary thought-piece on how easy it is for even parents to succumb to peer pressure, she failed.
  
  
  
• Bummer of a book
  By A30HYLBDBTZJXH on 2008-05-03
  I loved Good in Bed when it came out years ago and I was excited to see the sequel but I was very disppointed. In spite of a healthy child, a wonderful partner and a pretty easy life in the 'burbs, Cannie is still obseesed with her weight and her looks in general. It is really tedious "listening" to her on this subject. Her daughter is a whiny brat. Yes, she is 13, but not in any way sympathetic. I couldn't really connect with any of the characters in this humourless story. The one character who doesn't annoy doesn't survive! Heavens, what was the point of that? Do Cannie and her child grow or improve at all through this sludge? Nope. I nearly abandoned this book about 1/3 of the way through but persevered and really wish I hadn't. If you loved Good in Bed, I suggest you leave the story there.
  
  
  
• Undoes all the good of the first book...
  By A1OO1P9WIPHQL7 on 2008-05-19
  If you liked Good in Bed, don't read this book. It destroys everything that was good and relateable and interesting about it's predecessor. Maybe this book should have been called Bad in Bed instead.
  
  Because I loved Good in Bed and In Her Shoes so much, I have gotten all of Jennifer Weiner's books the minute they hit shelves. But now I wonder why I bother, since her last three books (Goodnight Nobody; the short story collection; this book) have been huge disappointments. Certain Girls, however, is even more disappointing than her other books because it not only is a depressing, morose, and aggravating tale, it also simultaneously sucks the pleasure out of what I read in the first book.
  
  Aside from the fact that the characters names are the same, their personalities and temperaments are virtually opposite of the first book. The wisecracking heroine has been replaced by a paranoid bore. And the most interesting supporting characters have been reduced to one-dimensional footnotes. I guess the author mentioned them on occasion out of nostalgia, but all it really did was serve to remind us that the characters in the first book were more interesting and better developed.
  
  The plot itself is a not very interesting retread of the same old mother v. teenage daughter storyline that you can read in any young adult novel. Only here, the daughter is so obnoxious that you just wish someone would smack her already. And the ending, which closes the book on a largely morose note, is little more than a dramatic contrivance (although what it contrives to do, aside from ruining the book, is beyond me).
  
  Jennifer Weiner may have lost me at this book, now that the number of her books I can't stand has outnumbered the ones I love. She should have just left well enough alone by not messing with one of her best works.
  
  
• Disappointed.
  By A118XGBH1L6H59 on 2008-05-23
  I believe the biggest problem with Certain Girls is that Weiner, who created Cannie with a terrific, believable voice, did not succeed in maintaining Cannie's voice and adding an equally believable voice in her daughter Joy. Many authors of late have written novels in a multiple voice point of view. Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible comes to mind as an extraordinary novel written in this fashion. But Cannie's voice is diluted and Joy's voice is, well, certainly not that of an almost-teen. Sure, Weiner has made her whiny, cruel, self-centered, and self-possessed, but the voice just isn't right. She uses language that doesn't ring true. I can't "see" Joy as a character and the Cannie that we loved in Good in Bed does not continue to develop and grow.
  And I agree with the comments about the contrived plot "twist" at the end. By trying to convince her readers that Cannie is a strong woman capable of withstanding the worst that life can throw at her, she has succeeded only in highlighting the stereotype that we're all becoming rather tired of. Yeah, we're tough and we can "take it" [sigh]. But when we read a Jennifer Weiner book, we'd rather not.
  
  
• Cannie Shapiro is back, and in my opinion better than ever.
  By AUXCR5YX3MOJK on 2008-04-14
  I've been reading some of the other reviews on here and some people are disappointed because they don't consider Jennifer Weiner's most recent book Certain Girls are your typical "chick lit". I think people are losing sight of the fact that Weiner is an excellent writer/story teller and to just classify her as only a "chick lit" author is short changing her a little bit. I don't think you're giving her enough credit for her story telling ability. It's not that often that I read a book in 2 days without being able to put it down. Her last novel "Goodnight Nobody" wasn't your typical "chick lit" either, her most faithful fans (like me!) will agree with that, but I commend her for taking risks---anyone can slap a pink cover on a book and call it chick lit, but Jennifer is truly talented.
  With that said, I just finished Certain Girls today and I adored it. I think Cannie stayed true to herself and I don't think she changed that must--she's still quick witted and hysterical and I think if anything she just turned into a "mom" and Joy turned into an incredible young woman. I am hoping that someday, we are able to find out what will happen with Joy's life in the future.... :-)
  
  
• Too much of a good thing...
  By A17TASZJT6Y39D on 2008-04-27
  "Good in Bed" was rather groundbreaking with an intelligent, comical, forthright main character. This is not a sequel.
  
  Candance (Cannie) annoyed me (except at the end). She was still obsessing about her weight but now she added to her obsession with over protective mothering of her daughter, Joy. She smothered this pre-teen with her constant barrage of "do's and don'ts". I couldn't believe how much time the plot was devoted to a Bat Mitzvah dress.
  
  Joy naturally rebels and overdoes it. She did react in typical teen fashion regarding friends when she needed peer approval and more space from Cannie. However, for a 12-13 year old, she had too much insight toward the end of the book. Weiner took her, in a few months, from a typical "i need to belong" teen to an insightful brilliant young person who knew how to make better decisions.
  
  The other characters in the book did add to the story: Peter, the step-father of Joy, who should have been named St. Peter; Elle, Cannie's sister, a vapid, but sometimes alert, fashion expert; Ann, Cannie's lesbian mother and Cannie's father, Dr. Shapiro, who was destructive and very confusing. Dr. Shapiro wallowed in a mid-life crisis for years, didn't earn enough money as a doctor, had a new family but kept pictures of his first family in the trunk of his car. Huh?
  
  I have always grabbed her new books when they are published but "Certain Girls" was too repetitive; Weiner needs to expand her talent and look at other subjects.
  
  
• Dissapointing
  By A2C5RAHDTEJ3SS on 2008-04-29
  I absolutely loved Good In Bed. I loved Cannie and her ability to come into herself.
  What the heck happened??? This Cannie is a smothering mother who whines, is insecure, and Joy turned into a selfish little brat. If my tweenage daughter did what she did, I certainly would not take her shopping! And the destruction of Peter..??? Why did you have to do that Jennifer.
  I am so incredibly dismayed after reading this book What a let down.
  
  
• Disappointing
  By A2DXOILGC6U5T5 on 2008-05-11
  I usually don't write reviews, but after finishing this book I was so frustrated that I wanted to say something.
  
  I generally love Jennifer Weiner's books, and actually just finished re-reading "Little Earthquakes." I was so excited to read "Certain Girls" and see what happened to Cannie after "Good in Bed". But I found this book so depressing! After leaving Cannie in the first book, we feel she may be headed for a happy ending. Instead, this book just felt like a constant struggle, in which NO one (even the supporting characters) is remotely content, much less happy.
  
  I'm not the mother of a teenager (yet, anyway!), but I don't doubt that this is a frustrating age for both parent and child. I wouldn't expect it to be all sunshine and rainbows; however, Joy is completely obnoxious throughout the book. The chapters told through her perspective only made me want to shake sense into her. I really didn't find myself empathizing with her at all... and really, what child gets away with the crap she pulls? Come on, Cannie!
  
  And the end... oh, the end. Jennifer Weiner, what are you doing to us? Why is that necessary? Does a woman really need to experience as much tragedy and heartache as Cannie has to find her inner strength? I certainly hope not.
  
  Overall this is not a terrible read. I enjoyed the first half, but I found the second half to be just a downward spiral into a frustrating, sad ending.
  
  
• Predicitible
  By A1ZA2AQUHN3BCD on 2008-04-09
  I wanted to love this book, but i didnt. Its was predcitible and i felt like i had read the ending a hundred times before. What happened to Cannie? What happened to her spirit? When i got to the ending, i said to myself , been there done that. I couldnt wait to get it and now, i think my love of Jennifore Weiner has worn off
  
  
• Not "Good in Bed"
  By A19AIDZPHSZGCL on 2008-04-14
  I loved loved Good in Bed and went searching for more Jennifer Weiner books, I have had this book ready to order in my shopping cart for months and months and I just finished reading it. The book is not like good in bed, not witty and uplifiting, in fact I found the ending down right depressing with almost no hope of redemption. I am in complete shock, i think Jennifer Weiner should have left well enough alone with the lovely ending of good in bed. I feel as though a little part of that book is ruined for me, with this serious, sad, sequel
  
  
• Not what I expected
  By AT50OSSDIN5BB on 2008-04-20
  Certain Girls: A Novel I was so looking forward to this book. I love Jennifer Weiner- and she really GETS it- in my opinion. She really hit the mark with Good In Bed- getting kudos from everyone- In Her Shoes was very good as well. The ending of this novel upset me so much I gave my copy away. I was thinking this weekend would be spent laughing ( which I did, sporatically) and loving this latest book about Cannie and Joy. I was depressed and wondered what message Jennifer was trying to put out there in regard to the path this book took for Cannie. I guess I was hoping to forget about life for awhile. What I did was reflect about how life really is not fair at times . It sucks the spirit and hope out of you sometimes. I guess I just really did not want to think sad thoughts this weekend. I wanted Cannie and Joy to romp in the park with Nifkin...Cannie's relationship with Bruce to be realistic and explored in that way- Cannie as a mom and writer, her hilarious family, maybe coming to grips with everything. To say I was distraught by the ending was an understatement. A little too much reality for a beautiful spring weekend.
  
  
• Worth reading but not as a sequel
  By A3GU0J3QJG5QXU on 2008-04-22
  I was so looking forward to this book as I too loved Good in Bed. However, while reading the book I started second guessing my memory of Good in Bed. I don't recall Cannie being so annoying and complacent. Seriously, what modern mother would really not have told her daughter the gist of the best selling book she was mildly famous for!? I found the Jodi Picoult-like twist at the end very annoying and not in a, "wow that was a disturbing yet effective event" way, more of a "hmmm, that was a non-value added huge bummer" way.
  
  I have a feeling this book might be viewed more favorably by people who have not read Good in Bed.
  
  
• Definitely Not Her Best
  By A1BI8PUEHA5CHW on 2008-05-13
  It is a major disappointment when you finally get the book you've coveted for so long only to find out it is a flat book. I thought I could count on Weiner to provide a wonderful chick lit book that would carry me away into a different world and it is all dramatic at first, but ends with a wonderful ending.
  
  Well, it's not this book.
  
  I had to force myself to finish this book, which I am now kicking myself in the rear for doing so because not only was this book flat, it gave a twisted ending that really ruined the book for me. Like a lot of the reviewers in here, what in the world is she thinking? I hate wasting time on books that doesn't fly and fortunately, I don't run into that problem too often. This one ... was a waste of my time.
  
  I didn't read "Good in Bed" though I do have a copy of that somewhere. I am almost apprehensive in picking that one up after reading this one. This book focuses on Cannie, married to a doctor, Peter, and mother of a teenager, Joy. Joy, in this book, makes me dread teenagehood with all passion. I don't remember being like her as a teen and frankly, there is no redeeming factor about Joy in this novel. And now Cannie, she is frankly one of the most wishy-washy characters I have ever read about. All she harped on was how fat she was and how scared she is that her past would come and haunt Joy.
  
  After reading this review and others in here, I am surprised that I even finished this book. I very rarely say that about books, so it takes a lot to get me on this two-star track. This one did it. And I am deeply disappointed since it wasn't like her others.
  
  5/13/08
  
  
• Not Good enough--
  By A73N4TGUPZV7V on 2008-05-18
  This sequel to Jennifer Weiner's Good in Bed was sorely lacking. I was practically salivating to get my hands on this book and now that I have finished it I wish I had come and read some reviews before buying it.
  
  I have to say between this book and Goodnight Nobody Weiner seems to have lost her touch. Certain Girls plot was all over the place and the ending was not necessary. To keep heaping tragedy on your characters does not a good novel make. My suggestion pass this one up.
  
  
• Emotional Manipulation at its Best
  By A4MGIA4TAMFCQ on 2008-05-24
  I loved, loved, loved "Good In Bed" and was so excited when I saw this one. "Good In Bed" was one of my top 5 favorite books but I'll never be able to reread it without the taint of this sequel. For those who will, despite the mediocre reviews, read this book I won't reveal the plot twist but suffice it to say that I felt exceeding emotionally manipulated. By the end of the novel I was angry and wished I'd never read the book. There were numerous points when I thought about putting it away and ending the painful attempt to try to get through it but I continued on... to my heartbreak. I should have heeded my intuition. Beyond the devastated twist late in the book... what happened to the strong, quirky and intelligent Cannie? Instead we're left with a fear driven and insecure woman who never found her way... very disappointing. Also, I recognize that all mother/ daughter relationships change during those awful teenage years but it seemed that more was being made of the situation than was warranted. All in all... VERY disappointing! Spend your money elsewhere!!
  
  
• Bittersweet
  By A21FPJ24ACIRG8 on 2008-04-09
  I was very excited when I heard that this book was coming out. While it isn't completely like chick lit, I was still entertained by the story even when I wasn't too sure about it in the very beginning.
  
  My biggest annoyance with the storyline is that it didn't line up with 'Good In Bed' in some of the details. Like a line where Cannie talks about climbing up three floors to her apartment, but if you read 'Good In Bed' then you would know that her apartment was moved to the bottom floor...and there wasn't an indication of it being a new apartment. Those tiny details were few and far between, but if you read 'Good In Bed' again before reading this book, that was how I found small things like that.
  
  The book still made me connect with the character(s) and you have to read it from the perspective that Cannie isn't in her late 20's anymore, but in her early 40's. I still laughed at the wit in the book and cried at the end. I did feel like the end was rushed a bit, since the rest of the story is fairly detailed, but the ending came quick and bittersweet.
  
  Overall, I did enjoy the book and wonder if another book will continue the story, basically it did leave me wanting more in a good way.
  
  
• Certain Girls is for every girl
  By A2N8H51Q6P8ZWD on 2008-04-10
  I was so excited when this title was announced! I ran out a bought it the day it came out because I just couldn't wait any longer. I was not at all disappointed. I loved Good in Bed so much that I have read it 6 times. The follow up story is so great. I love that Jennifer skipped ahead to Joy being an almost teenager. There was a certain maturity to the text in Cannie's voice which was great. It gave a sense of Cannie having grown up over time. She is no longer as insecure and lost. She has found her voice in more ways than one. I loved the Joy played such an important part in the story. It made me realise that my the things my mother does to fuss over me still (I am 27) are all done because she loves me and still thinks of me as her little girl. My only disappointment was the plot twist. I really had hoped that Cannie could finally have it all. I wish that she had. But, in the end, I think it is a better story for having been bittersweet.
  
  
• Very boring and disappointing
  By ARF4VPPPYGHSP on 2008-05-01
  I kept waiting for the story to get more interesting, more captivating, just like "Good in Bed". Unfortunately, the story never really gets off the ground, with boring details about nothing (dresses, travel arrangements, etc...). Unlike other reviews, I found the ending the only really good part of this book. Let's hope the story of Candace Shapiro stops here.
  
  
• Not a winner
  By A39MCS19KZYQ54 on 2008-05-15
  I bought this book hoping for a quick read after reading heavy books about the Middle East. This book is a quick, easy read, but it's not very entertaining. I don't think it's very funny at all. I didn't really like the main character either, I felt like she was pretty shallow in the sense that the character was not well-developed. She was constantly complaining about her childhood and being fat, but never bothered to do much about either.
  
  The book is a no-brainer you can read at the beach, but I wouldn't recommend it.
  
  
• Sad old story
  By A36WZFG8HBAKA on 2008-05-21
  like everyone else was looking forward to more Cannie. I was sad to find out that this lovable character was reduced to a stero-typical stay at home mom. Cannie seems bitter and insecure, not the feminist saavy Cannie of Good in Bed. The men in her book are strickingly one dimensional. Her husband appears to live for Cannie, in the way a lap dog serves his master. Bruce, her ex-boyfriend, has not grown or developed. Cannie has not made much head-way in perspective when it comes to this relationship. Weiner makes it hard to be sympathatic to a character who is still bitter about a break-up in her twnenties and premature birth of a child thirteen years later. Weiner's overview on teen-aged issues are trite, superficial and boring. We should all be so lucky to have the mundane problems of Cannie and Joy...until the idiotic ending that is. Sadly this book reminded me of a lifetime movie, mildly entertaining. The trouble is Wiener is much more talented then that. It seems that she has sold out, making screen ready superficial plotlines instead the satisfying-stick to your ribs characters in her first work. I would love to see her change the formula and enter into unchartered territory a bit.
  
  

• The Guy Not Taken: Stories
• Little Earthquakes
• Good in Bed

• Love the One You're With
• Remember Me?
• Chasing Harry Winston: A Novel
• The Beach House
• Good in Bed