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cathd80's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely loved this book! It made me laugh but made me think as well which is the best of all combinations. Sarah Dunn has got a great voice- original, sad, funny, and real.
littlewestfall's review against another edition
4.0
No creí que fuera a gustarme este libro. Por lo general, las historias realistas no me atraen y no hacen que quiera seguir leyendo el libro. Al principio fue así, pero después el culebrón que supone la vida de la protagonista me enganchó. De vez en cuando no está mal leer una historia de estas aunque no es de mis favoritas le doy 4 estrellas. Sí que tiene cosas que no me han gustado, como el personaje de Spence (eso de decir "qué hago saliendo con esta gorda" pues como que no lo tolero) pero creo que la historia está muy bien.
morepagesplease's review against another edition
2.0
Sarah Dunn is a truly talented writer. Her writing is witty, lively, and flows beautifully. However, for me, Secrets to Happiness wasn't the book to showcase that talent. In fairness, let me start off by saying that I am probably outside of the target demographic of this book. I am a fairly conservative, career woman turned stay-at-home mother, who is totally devoted to my husband and children. The characters in this novel would likely describe me as a naive optimist.
The central character of the novel is Holly Frick, a recently divorced writer on the downward slope of her career, who has been anything but lucky in love. Holly lives, works, and plays in New York city. In general, Holly is a bit at a loss as to how to find happiness in her life. It turns out that most of her close friends, including her best friend Amanda, haven't figured that out either; despite appearances to the contrary. Secrets to Happiness presents us with a host of characters, and their search to find fulfillment.
Initially, I really enjoyed this book for the first few chapters in which the author introduced Holly, and some of her history. However, a few pages more had me wondering why Holly would choose to spend time with many of the other characters, especially her best friend Amanda. I found the majority of the characters in this book to be self-centered egoists who treated Holly as a quaint little country girl because she sometimes voiced a moral qualm with regards to the consequences of destructive behavior, like adultery. The character of Amanda particularly had me wanting to hurl the book out of the window. I think it was partly because I was still enjoying the post-reading high from Everyone is Beautiful, and suddenly, here was a character who drugged her infant with Benadryl so that she could enjoy uninterrupted sexual fantasies about a man she met at a park.
I am giving this book two stars because I really mean it when I say that Dunn impressed me with her ability to turn a phrase. As much as I disliked this novel, I still found myself wishing I could write like she does.
The central character of the novel is Holly Frick, a recently divorced writer on the downward slope of her career, who has been anything but lucky in love. Holly lives, works, and plays in New York city. In general, Holly is a bit at a loss as to how to find happiness in her life. It turns out that most of her close friends, including her best friend Amanda, haven't figured that out either; despite appearances to the contrary. Secrets to Happiness presents us with a host of characters, and their search to find fulfillment.
Initially, I really enjoyed this book for the first few chapters in which the author introduced Holly, and some of her history. However, a few pages more had me wondering why Holly would choose to spend time with many of the other characters, especially her best friend Amanda. I found the majority of the characters in this book to be self-centered egoists who treated Holly as a quaint little country girl because she sometimes voiced a moral qualm with regards to the consequences of destructive behavior, like adultery. The character of Amanda particularly had me wanting to hurl the book out of the window. I think it was partly because I was still enjoying the post-reading high from Everyone is Beautiful, and suddenly, here was a character who drugged her infant with Benadryl so that she could enjoy uninterrupted sexual fantasies about a man she met at a park.
I am giving this book two stars because I really mean it when I say that Dunn impressed me with her ability to turn a phrase. As much as I disliked this novel, I still found myself wishing I could write like she does.
bluesreader's review against another edition
4.0
This is one of those books where I didn't really like about half the characters, but it was still a good story. Liking the characters isn't necessarily a requirement for me to like a book.
rightonmama's review against another edition
4.0
There were moments in this book where my heart just leapt for one character or sank for another. That's the mark of a good book, to me, that it made me care about its characters.
shelleyrae's review against another edition
2.0
Surface characters with a surface plot, I just couldnt find it in myself to care about the main protaganist, Holly, and there just seemed to be no point at all. There were some good lines but otherwise a bland self indulgent feel that didn't appeal at all.
vagueheartsclubb's review against another edition
1.0
got through 26 pages before i stopped. this book is so shit
msmandrake's review against another edition
3.0
This is essentially chick-lit-ish romance, everyone pairs up and lives happily ever after, which I really just do not read, but I so liked her newest book that I tried this one, too. I didn't like it as much, but for what it was it was well written and did make me laugh out loud several times, so I think she could write in any genre she wanted...here's hoping she branches out more in the future.
chajara's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this thinly-veiled, quick-read autobiography chick-lit more than Big Love, Dunn worked hard to develop more characters, and well, I felt that they had more depth than Big Love's Alison and gave me more to relate to. Happiness also follows more characters, but I didn't really appreciate how she tied them together in the end. All that said, I did have fun reading Happiness, and its so easy to read, I'll probably do it again.