Catch The List Crafted By Melanie Jacobson Rendered As Print

if this steps on anyone's toes, but this book totally reminded me why I hardly ever read LDS fiction.
Corny and cheesy dialogue/scenes/you name it throughout the whole book, I'll admit, I read a lot of Anita Stansfield and Jack Weyland in high school and if you had given this book to me then, I probably would have liked it.
But not anymore. I couldn't handle it. I did finish it, but boy, Someone stop me if they see me checking out an LDS fiction book anytime soon, Please. Oh my goodness I could not put this book down, I told my husband while in the middle of the book that I was probably going to have to buy this book.
which I only do with books I really want to read again, and again This book was funny, interesting, and had a lot of things people like me relate to.
However, in the lastchapters or at least the last small part of the book, I decided I did not like this book.
Bummer, but seriously, she ended on cliche's and turned the heroine from a slightly insane but likable and witty girl, into a freak, and total idiot.
I am sorry but no one is this painfully stupid, Then in trying to end on a happy note, it just kind of ended with a "thats it" kind of resolve.
Well, I am a frustrated reader tonight, So much potential, I could have really loved this book, with a little more oomph at the end it would have been great.
I didn't expect much from this book, but it was just so annoying even with low expectations to finish.
I found the main character to be selfrighteous and smug and immature, She looks down her nose at everyone around her, I'll concede that she could have grown over the course of the book, but she just started out so immature and obnoxious that I really hoped she got nothing that she wanted.
This is the book that started my love of LDS fiction, I loved the characters, the situations, the comedy, the romance, . . Ah! Just loved this book, IF you are LDS and you've been through the singles ward, this is a must read, To view my full review visit: sitelink blogspot I'm not going to lie to you, Confession number one: I do not read LDS literature anymore, I did as a young adult, I did a little in my college days, But I haven't even entered a Deseret Bookstore in about ten years, LDS literature has not been anywhere on my radar, Confession number two: chicklit has never been my genre, I've read a few books here, I've read a few books there, But it's never been my fave, Confession number three: I know the author, We worked together at the Limited. And we were in the same major, . . back in the BYU days, She's a friend. She's smart and sassy. Most importantly, she's a great writer!

All confessions, and possible prejudices aside, The List was, in a word, adorable.
And in another, delightful. And in just one more, entertaining! And isn't that just perfect for a lazy summer afternoon with not much to do It is.
It truly is.

So Ashley, a really beautiful and somewhat unconventional, Mormon girl moves to Huntington Beach with two goals in mind.
Learn to surf and hook up with a hottie for some summer lovin! Once they are off her "list" She can go on to graduate school in good old Provo without a care in the world.
But when she starts to really fall for her summer fling, Ashley has to reassess what matters most,

I kind of hearted this book, and here is why:

, The main character, Ashley, has a backbone and she's smart, But she's funny, too. She is someone who, in real life, would totally be my bff, I liked her that much, And that is because she seems like a real person, I'm a Mormon and a single girl, I totally related to Ashley,

. I loved the dialogue. It felt like real conversation, I find that many authors struggle to make dialogue

mimic real life, Not so here. And that only made the characters all the more developed and real,

. It's light. And sometimes that is just what you want, . . a story that is fun and that doesn't take itself too seriously,

. This is slightly embarrassing to admit, but I loved all the Mormon trappings, I suppose that in my more "worldly" or "intellectual" moods, I think that Mormon literature focuses too much on Mormonisms.
. . i. e. , references to institute or wards or linger longer, Maybe it's because I haven't read such novels in a long time that I found the references refreshing and fun.


. The romance had my heart pitterpattering! I'm notanymore, but isn't crushing on someone one of the great pleasures of life And then falling in love.
. . well, that is the great pleasure of life! Am I right I am right, And the romance here was perfect,

. Finally, she gets the whole singles ward culture, I lived it for too many years, And this was an honest and real representation of the culture that exists in an LDS singles ward,

So go out and read it! And congratulations Melanie, . . well played! I somehow didn't realize this was a LDS romantic fictional book, Not that there is anything wrong with them, they just aren't always very well written and, well, if you've read them, you know however, since I rode my bike up to the library with the seat far too low, making it much harder to bike up hill, I thought I had better give it a shot.
It wasn't so bad for an LDS book, Very predictable, and really cheesy in parts, which I am sometimes in the mood for, so that was ok.
Entertaining and light, it was good enough for me to finish in one evening, I must say I really liked the romantic figure in the book, Matt Gibson, He was a bit dreamy, and not too cliche, I liked him fabulously but I could not STAND the main girl, Ashley, She drove me nuts. Snarky, calculating, egotistical, hypocritical, ridiculously stubborn and short sighted, . . even in her "best" moments with Ryder, i didn't like her, She thought she was the bomb diggity, which bothered me most, Plus, her outfit choices that she thought were so awesome also annoyed me, So, I wavered betweenandstars, because I couldn't stand her but I really liked him, I ended up giving it three because I am just glad there are still decent enough men to put up with nut cases like her.
Is that too strong a review for a fictional story Look, I'm just saying, I think it's pretty fun.
Like, pretty dang fun. AWFUL. The book was like a train wreck: I couldn't stop reading because it was that bad, I must be a hater b/c I'm one of the few reviewers who despised this book, It has NO substance. The main character, Ashley, is selfabsorbed, materialistic, vain, and completely lacking in any sort of depth, She is antimarriage because both her mother and two sisters married very young, had/have hard lives and never had any adventures.
In order to avoid this "trap," Ashley gives herself a list ofthings she must do before she gets married.
While learning to surf on her summer before beginning grad school, she meets Matt Gibson, a hunky, wealthy surf instructor.
You can write the book yourself from there, It's so predictable and cheesy, The dialogue is beyond ridiculous! The banter between Ashley and Matt is corny and far too lengthyseriously, anybody could have written their dialogue.


Ashley is superreluctant to get in a relationship with Matt because they are both Mormon, and in their world, if you fall in love, you must get married.
Throughout the whole book I couldn't figure out what Matt saw in Ashley, except that she's beautiful and smart and adventurous, all of which she tells the reader REPEATEDLY! At the endyes, dialogue and plot spoilerMatt tells Ashley he loves her and wishes she'd give up "The List" because she's so wonderful because she's so loyal and loving to her family.
UHHHH what Did the author not read the very book she was writing The entire book, all Ashley does is tear her family apart for choices they made which she disagreed with.
She never has one positive thing to say about them, and her epiphany regarding men, relationship, love, and marriage comespages before the end of the book.
Let me get this straight: I just slogged throughpages of Ashley's hangups on men, marriage, and the stupid list, and she does a completeon her deeply held beliefs inpages after spendingminutes at her sister's houseyes, one of the two sisters she's been slamming since pageHow much depth can a character have when her transformation is so utterly lifeless and empty of any real struggle or soulsearching It was a cheapshot, easy way to end the book.
But really, I shouldn't be mad b/c it just put me out of my misery sooner,

Honestly If you want a fun read that is relaxing and ok, even a little cheesy, find something else because this horrible book is beyond the pale!
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