GIRL MEETS APE
Author: Chris Manby
You’ve heard me rant and rave about Chris Manby. You’ve heard me sing praises about that one particular first-book-first-love that I chanced upon. Eagerly, I added her name to my list of must-read books by chosen authors.
So what did I do? I dived in straight to the next book by Ms Manby that I saw on the shelf. And oh boy, what a ride it was. Downhill, I meant.
I do not know which book did Ms Manby write first – Girl Meets Ape or Ready or Not? My guess, and my hope, is that the she wrote the former. If this is the first book, then at least she is getting better.
What a major disappointment in GMA. Heroine Jennifer Niederhauser is a total let-down. Though she is academically bright, the way she is painted in the book does not reflect her modern upbringing. This story, while full of interesting anecdotes on wild life (read: apes, chimpanzees etc), fails miserably in comedy, surprises and ending. All three are lacking, though Ms Manby tries.
Comedy is scattered here and there, but the way the scenes are set up, the humor is very thin and obviously amateurish. Surprises there are none and the ending, why, even before I was halfway through the book, I had predicted the ending (very accurately).
The TRUIzM
I smiled? Nope. I laughed? Nope. I cried? Nah. Maybe a little – of joy, at finally having finished this painful story that tries very hard to humor but falls flat like a big sack of potatoes. I wouldn’t put this book on the shelf in my personal library.
So what did I do? I dived in straight to the next book by Ms Manby that I saw on the shelf. And oh boy, what a ride it was. Downhill, I meant.
I do not know which book did Ms Manby write first – Girl Meets Ape or Ready or Not? My guess, and my hope, is that the she wrote the former. If this is the first book, then at least she is getting better.
What a major disappointment in GMA. Heroine Jennifer Niederhauser is a total let-down. Though she is academically bright, the way she is painted in the book does not reflect her modern upbringing. This story, while full of interesting anecdotes on wild life (read: apes, chimpanzees etc), fails miserably in comedy, surprises and ending. All three are lacking, though Ms Manby tries.
Comedy is scattered here and there, but the way the scenes are set up, the humor is very thin and obviously amateurish. Surprises there are none and the ending, why, even before I was halfway through the book, I had predicted the ending (very accurately).
The TRUIzM
I smiled? Nope. I laughed? Nope. I cried? Nah. Maybe a little – of joy, at finally having finished this painful story that tries very hard to humor but falls flat like a big sack of potatoes. I wouldn’t put this book on the shelf in my personal library. 
