| This Charming Man | 
 enlarge | Author: Marian Keyes
Publisher: Michael Joseph Ltd
Category: Book
List Price: £17.99
Buy New: £7.50
You Save: £10.49 (58%)
New (26) Used (10) from £4.50
Avg. Customer Rating:  79 reviews
Sales Rank: 452
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 688
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.9
ISBN: 0718149122
EAN: 9780718149123
ASIN: 0718149122
Publication Date: April 30, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Unwanted gift. This book is brand new
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| Customer Reviews:
 ok but... July 15, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I love all the books from Marian Keyes, she is a great storyteller.
This book also got me hooked. However, I only read the first part from Lola and after that I skipped all of hers. "Her" way of writing really annoyed me and I could not bring myself to read anymore of her teenage-ish rambling.
 Actually, I really enjoyed it July 14, 2008
While I agree with many of the points made by Blonde Bookworm's review (and particularly her comments about other authors - cool review) and many other critical ones, I enjoyed myself (if you can describe reading a book about such dark subject matter as enjoyable). This is a very clever book. It tackles a very hard subject with aplomb, and leads you neatly to the end. I found Marnie's story heart-breakingly realistic, unsurprising as Marian Keyes has suffered the same way herself, and I didn't have any problems with the style of Lola's diary. I loved the characterisation of Grace.
But yes: the novel needed to be tightened. I imagine that if you're an author as successful as MK, it takes a brave editor to cut a book up. And I also agree: what's with the 'molichino' highlights mentions at weird moments?!
 Flashes of the old Keyes, otherwise boring (sorry Marian) July 7, 2008
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
This book was not to my liking at all. I have read all Marian Keyes' books and enjoyed them immensely, as the serious parts were always peppered with good laugh-out-loud humour. I hated the staccato style in which Lola's story is written and lost interest when it went on and on. I skipped through a lot of it. The separation of the characters doesn't work for me at all, as it is difficult to knit them together eventually.
However, I decided to persevere (as I said before I am a faithful follower) so I read the book half way through and decided at that point that I wasn't bothered continuing with it any more. I can't remember putting a book down at that stage before. Had I not been looking forward to another tried and trusted Keyes book I probably would have taken a different approach, but it just didn't appeal.
Miss the old style Keyes :(
boring! July 6, 2008
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
After having enjoyed previous books by this author, I was quite confident that I had bought another "enjoyable, light reading" book. I really tried to get into the book, but found it slow, boring, depressing, dull. I gave up at page 220..., frustrated, and irritated by the dismal and negative tone of the book, by the fact that after 220 pages of the book, nothing has happened, the reader is still "discovering" the rather boring characters of the book (haven't even got to Alicia yet); it's terribly static. Too bad...
Where was the editor? July 3, 2008
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
This is so disappointing. The bar is always high for Marian Keyes and this isn't a bad book, but...... It could have been so much better. Good central plot and some interesting characters but sloppily edited. Is the problem that Marian is so famous and such a good seller that her publishers don't dare tell her the truth?
The book needs cutting and some careful editing. It also needs to lose the diary style which is inconsistent, irritating and unneccessary. If you want to know how to do diary, then read Alison Pearson.
Please don't do this again Marian. You are one of the best around and this was rambling and undisciplined.
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