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There are currently 26 member reviews
for The Red Book
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Debra L. (Deerfield, IL)
The Red Book
This was an average chicklit book. The characters were interesting, but their stories not so much. I liked the idea of Harvard college friends going to their reunion, but the story never went anywhere.This would be a vacation read!
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Laura P. (Atlanta, GA)
The Red Book
This 20th college reunion story (Harvard '89) uses the practice of publishing a reunion book ("THe Red Book") as a foil for the story of 4 college roommates whose lives are very different from the images they choose to project. The characters cover the spectrum of racial, sexual, and national categories, and touch on pretty much every controversial social issue out there - same sex marraige, abortion, pre- and extra-marital sex, sex change surgery, May-December relationships are all there. WIth a boatload of characters, Kogan is able to do very little actual character development, and few of the characters she focuses most on are sympathetic. (It's hard to feel too sorry for the producer's wife who might have to sell her second home in Antibes.) On the plus side, though, the writing is more than competent and it's really hard to put the book down. I would take it to the beach in a heartbeat, but I will not be recommending it to my rather serious book group.
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Maggie P. (Mount Airy, MD)
The Red Book
The premise of the book was wonderful. Catch up with four Harvard graduates as they gather for their 20 year class reunion. I imagined reuniting with three of my good friends from college and catching up on the ensuing years. Would four people thrown together in college be able to gather together again? With that in mind, I eagerly started reading the book. As much as I tried, I just couldn’t make myself care for the characters. I found myself forgetting about it once I put it down. It’s just possible it was too close to chick-lit to completely capture my attention. I still believe the premise should work.
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Barb W. (Mechanicsburg, PA)
The Red Book
I usually really enjoy books about women's friendships and relationships, so I was really looking forward to reading this book. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to my expectations, as I had a hard time caring much about any of the four major characters. Maybe it was because most of them were very "privileged" women, and I found it hard to identify with their lifestyles, attitudes and even some of their morals (for lack of a better word), or maybe there were too many other characters in the story to focus on the four women. I'm glad I finished the book, but I doubt I'll be recommending it to anyone.
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Anna R. (Oak Ridge, TN)
Disappointing.
I looked forward to this book because the description sounded wonderful. First of all, there are so many words in the English language so why do authors use the "f" word so much?? Do people really talk like that? No one I know does. The characters are so spoiled and shallow and seem to think having sex with someone other than their current partners is no big deal. Also, there were too many characters in the book which made it hard to keep them all straight. The best part of the book was the last chapter.
I will not be recommending this book to my book club. I'm not sure I will even loan it to anyone.
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