Sundays at Tiffany's

I love this book! I think this is probably James Patterson's best book to date. I love the way he draws you in to the characters and makes you feel like a part of his book. Also the way he takes an abstract subject and makes you believe. What a fantastic author!

I must say, I was very disappointed with this book. This is the second James Patterson book that I have read (the first one being 1st to Die). I LOVED the first book of his Woman's Murder Club series and I also bought this book along with Sam's Letters to Jennifer (which I will read next) because I have heard that his love stories are like Nicholas Sparks (which is one of my FAVORITE authors) - well, this book was no where near what Nicholas Sparks can write. This book never really caught my attention, and believe me I was REALLY hoping I would get lost in this book. I am a person that loves to get lost in the fantasy world of "happily ever after" and let my heart go places in these books that I can't even imagine. Well, that didn't happen at all with this book. Actually, I almost didn't finish it but forced myself to continue just to see if it got better, and it did a little. WARNING SPOILERS WILL FOLLOW. The only reason I finished it was because I wanted to see if Jane lived and if they would be together. After I found out her mother was the one to die, and not her, it made the book better, and I must say the near death experience of Michael at the end was a nice touch as well. I just think the book was way too short to really grasp the reader and pull them in to the story. I love the idea of someone fromt he past coming back and it being true love, but it was almost creepy to me. Was Michael in love with her when she was 8? That's just sick. Otherwise, maybe he always felt a connection with her but didn't love her until he saw her again when she was an adult. Either way, it wasn't explained and even though I love to suspend reality in my books, this one was too far gone for even me.

I borrowed this from my cousin when looking for something to read, so I can't say much about the "overpriced hardcover" aspect. But it does seem like something that would be a short paperback if it didn't have James Patterson's name on it.

For a quick read, it was pretty good. As a lover of supernatural plots, I liked the the imaginary friend theme and thought it was an interesting concept. I mean, if you're looking for a strict thriller or romance you'll be extremely disappointed, but as light romantic fluff it worked.

Character and plot wise...Michael was every girl's typical dream come true, but Jane got on my nerves as an adult. Yes, I understand that it was hard for her to stand up to her mother, but repeatedly reading how critical and overbearing mother was became annoying after a while (which didn't make much sense after reading that the mother ignored Jane growing up, but I guess times change).

This does take on a children's book quality, with very little "R-rated" stuff save for a couple of scenes that are PG-13 at most. But that was fine with me and I enjoyed the plot of Michael becoming human, and Jane gaining confidence.

So, while it was a cute read, I suggest waiting for paperback, or borrowing it from a friend.

Warning: this is not for James Patterson fans addicted to Alex Cross. Think of his romantic novellas like Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas and if you liked that, you'll be more inclined to like this one. However, even though I am perfectly willing to suspend reality and slip into fantasy mode when necessary, I do expect the fantasy to be logical and well thought out---in other words, a realistic fantasy, one that could be possible in a dream-come-true world. This one fails on that score.

The most endearing part of the novel is Jane as the poor little rich girl. Her divorced mother is too busy for her and constantly belittles Jane for her weight and just about everything else. Her absent father has little purpose other than showing up occasionally to disappoint her. No wonder young Jane slips into Fantasy Land and is only too happy to have Michael, her imaginary friend, become her best and only friend. This concept works well, especially for the hundreds of adults who might recall with fondness their own imaginary friend from childhood. It is only when the adult Jane reconnects with Michael that the novel becomes a bit creepy and all logic is lost. Apparently, the authors had a wonderful idea of telling the story of an imaginary friend, but didn't take the time to work out answers to the details of his life---details like why he doesn't age, how he explains his occupation to the real-world adults he associates with between assignments, his status as angel or not, etc. Michael's character, one that could have been truly wonderful, is just not that well thought out. Even Michael doesn't know the answers.

If one of my children had written this when they were eight or nine, I would have praised their creativity in coming up with such a plot. But a distinguished writer like James Patterson owes his adult audience a book with a more well-defined parameters. Even fantasies have to make sense on some level.

The cover blurb sounded promising, it's a James Patterson - or is it? Who is this Gabrielle Charbonett? - and so I was lured in. I admit, I stayed up til 2:00 a.m. "reading it" last night... although the truth is, I mostly skimmed the first sentence of every paragraph, all the while thinking "Really? This was published? It reads like a high school English writing class assignment." It's gimmicky, but the promise of the gimmick isn't fulfilled very well. Jane is likeable, and the two characters in the opening are charming, but the plot is ridiculous (and not the gimmicky part - the way it's written). The writing is downright cheesy at times. Thank god the chapters - the one thing that makes this believable as a work of James Patterson - are short. UGH. Don't read this unless you're looking for a primer on what a bad novel looks like. I'm going to have to be very careful with future JP novels... maybe I'll become a better library patron.