Sex, Lies and Fairytales by Kate Thompson Mon 20t

[nicc]

Well sorry I missed this yesterday girls, I did come on but the kids were feral so had to go again.
I liked this book, it was easy to read, had a good storyline but some of the characters had me rolling my eyes. i liked Cleo the best but I did think she took her man back to easily at the end.
Didn't really like Pixie. I tihnk it was the way she talked sometimes, using the big fancy words and such. Do people really talk like that? I enjoyed hearing about scenes from her novel Hard Too Choos and it was amazing to think that Kate wrote that after Sex, Lies and Fairytales. I remember you commenting on that also in another thread Oons.
The way Pablo talked also, especially in the bedroom, had me rolling my eyes also It just seemed really cheesy and if Andrew said some of those things I think I would laugh in his face, sorry.
Taht's all I can think of for now. I did write some things down when I first read thebook but now I can't find them. If I think of more I'll let you all know.

[Abby]

Oonagh is this the post your refering to?
I pulled it from page 6 of the "what are you reading 2" thread

well Girls I finished Sex, lies and Fairy tales. Well this is one for the bookclub any how. Maybe we can do it in Dec if there is no objections. I would love to hear what other people think of this book. I m between two minds whether I like it or not! No offence kate I think I was jealous of cleo one of the main charcter because she had it all. Winning the lotto a gorgeous husband, my dream world owning a book shop!!! (Keep dreaming Oonagh). When it went pear shaped ok Im going to sound mean here I was delighted it did. Do u understand that? Oh i sound so mean! I definetly prefered Hard to Choos. Oh i loved that book. I laughed out loud at moments in this book too which i always like about a book!Maybe i could relate better with Charlotte. I dont know. I must go and have another think about it!What are working on at the moment kate are you doing a Pixie Pirelli Novel??? I liked it I got so immersed really with the characters. I loved the story line with Hugh and Harry!! Thought that was brill and it was not done before. I loved the whole way Hard to choos was connect up with it! That was very clever too. Did you write Hard to Choos before you done the novel out of pure nosiness! I must see if we can do this for Dec book club. I must make notes in my diary about this book! I still have so much i want to say but Ill be here all night. It s a lovely nice easy read. i totally uinderstand why it was picked for thetimes for summer reads!

[jofromoz]

Abby, I know this is done and dusted, but want to say I agree with your comments. After reading this book I was left feeling a bit let down really after having read Hard to Choos. Anyway, the whole Pablo thing was just a bit cliched for me...why do people portray artists as sex gods who are ready to pounce on anything that walks, and to be pounced on in return?? I know some artists and they are so introverted, they'd run and hide if you dared to flirt with them a little too much!!
Also Pixie was just a bit too good to be true as a writer I feel...how disciplined was she??? No probs meeting deadlines for her!!
Hazel and her mother were complete nutters at each end of the scale, and the almost rape scene towards the end with Hugh's twin brother didn't gel with the rest of the book really. He seemed to have jumped from out of nowhere...now had it been that wierdo who stood at the gate and stared at everyone, I could have accepted that!
Cleo was cool, and I could really feel her pain when Fluff was killed by that idiot husband of hers. I actually cried as I read it. I think anyone who has lost a pet would feel her pain, and I'm sure there are not many of us who would forgive the idiot husband as quickly as Cleo did...afterall it was a double whammy on his behalf - infidelity AND killing her beloved pet. He'd still be in London with the homeless if I was Cleo.
Sorry but this book just didn't cut it for me.

[megan]

Good to get your thougts on this Jo. What was Hard to Choos like? Was it much better, and, if so, can you tell me why?

Thanks

[susanmay]

[quoteHowever, I was disappointed with the male characters in this story and their relationships with women. Chloe’s marriage didn’t seem real to me. I hated her suspicions at the beginning about her husband Paulo and dreaded the whole book being about her paranoia. However, Paulo got it together with the young girl relatively quickly; and so the paranoia wasn’t dragged out any longer. When Chloe chucked him out, I thought that was fair enough and entirely understandable, but what I couldn’t understand was her taking him back in the end, without even talking to him about what he had done! One minute he was banished from the house and the next she was writing him a sexy story and he had made her pregnant. I got the impression that him impregnating her was supposed to convince us that he was a reformed man! It didn’t convince me. Paulo wasn’t real to me and at the end of the story I didn’t trust him not to do the dirt on Chloe again.
When I was younger I used to read books with similar story lines to this one and in my ignorance I thought that the relationships represented were what real marriage are like. As a result I NEVER wanted to get married. When I read this story it reminded me of how I used to feel and it upset me in case other young women are put off marriage and trusting men. It’s fine if a book deals with infidelity in a real way, but when it is treated so lightly and the couple are back together as if the betrayal was no big deal it frustrates me. I know many people argue that these stories are escapist and I shouldn’t take them so seriously, but I can’t help it. When it comes to books I expect them to reflect real life, feelings and relationships as much as possible. (And perhaps this story does for some people, I just don’t identify with it.)/quote]

Very well said; there's noting wrong in taking these stories seriously, Megan There’s young girls out there reading these books; that’s why there’s no great demand for teenage reads; because the youth have their heads stuck in adult literature. It’s possible that maybe it would put young women off marriage. I suppose though; if they weren’t reading it they’d be watching infidelity on Eastenders or some other soap opera!

I do believe that the whole infidelity scenario is taken far too lightly in most books today and it’s not a good idea for young women to be reading about characters like Chloe, who seem to be overly forgiving to their wayward husbands who basically don’t give a sh*t because they know women like Chloe will take them back; good, bad or indifferent.

All in all I enjoyed this book. I have to admit though; I never questioned Chloe until I read everyone’s post. I suppose that’s because I work for a company that’s predominantly male and most of them have or had a mistress on the side. It’s sickening to hear about. Their wives have taken them back on numerous times. Maybe this is the norm in today’s society.

Now I’m starting to believe it myself!!!

[jofromoz]

Susanmay, I was talking to a teenage girl at one of the family Chrissie parties, and she told me very confidently that basically humans are animals and really should not be restricted to the one partner forever!! It seems to be the general opinion in the groups aged from 17 to 25 that it's fair game out there and if you are married but feel attracted to another, so what if it doesn't really hurt anyone.....I was gobsmacked to say the least.
This kid and her friends (she goes out with a lot of older girls from her college and part time job too) all read the same books we read but they don't get indignant when they read bits such as in Sex Lies and Fairytales, where the young gorgeous girl has seduced the handsome but married guy. Their reaction is 'you go girl' more or less. Must be the new generation spurred on by the likes of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears and Lyndsay Lohan etc who don't seem to have the same idea on morals as we 'older' girls do.