Blurb: When twenty-seven year old Roxy Rule’s best friend and roommate accepts a glamorous new job overseas, she expects their relationship to continue as it’s always been—carefree and easy—until they share a heart-stopping kiss moments before his departure. Overcome with mixed emotions, she fights the urge to over analyze the situation and resumes back to her normal life in New York City, working for an intolerable boss at a dead end job, creeping further and further away from her own dreams of becoming a professional chef.
While things become more complicated between her and Ollie, Roxy is sure that nothing can come between two lifelong best friends—not even mild jealousy over a thriving career or a silly little kiss that meant nothing. In fact, it was such a meaningless and forgettable kiss that she convinces herself that it’s not even worth mentioning to her fiancé, although it is all she can think about.
Roxy’s already topsy-turvy life only gets more complicated when her sisters Steffi and Izzie suddenly become her roommates. Steffi is six months into a pregnancy she refuses to discuss and Izzie is in the throes of a premature midlife crisis. Roxy tries to take control of her career, her love life and her sisters – but can she really handle it all? And can the Rule family keep it together – or break under the pressure?
“Wait, one of our buddies is in town and he’s staying at this wicked fancy hotel. We’re all going there to get wasted and trash his room and shit. Wanna tag along?” He stares at Steffi. “One of the guys in the band is really into pregnant chicks.” He looks at me. “And I’m sure one of them is into chicks that are just big."
Fine debut. Cat Lavoie gives us a perspective of New York from the eyes of a heroine who's quite the art of cook book collector.
So Roxy Rules loves using the f-word, eating it and making it. Added to her resume is, family with sisters who have their fair share of slamming rock bottom, friend of a kooky crowd, assistant to a wacko boss, best friend and roommate of Oliver Frost and fiancée of a banker concerned about talking budget-cuts and tacky wedding ceremonies.
One kiss with Oliver at the point of his departure shatters her world and leaves her with the 'why did Ollie (my best friend) kiss me?' and the 'Why did I kiss him back?" and not forgetting, the "Wait, did I enjoy it?-Why did I enjoy it?" questions.
Time passes and the kiss issue is settled with the two undertaking a long-distance friendship. There are much too many problems Roxy has to deal with than a "platonic" kiss. Her sisters have moved in with her (think the ANTM house) and not a day passes without smackdown action. With the older meddling lawyer sister, Izzie, who's been let off from work till she sees a counselor-a case about crushing on a client, and younger sister, Steffi who shows up with a baby bump and chooses to leave it at that ("Woke up with it. Moving in with it."). And as if staying with the two isn't cause to fake a nervous breakdown to avoid work, she has her bugging boss, Greta the Nutter, to deal with. And did I forget the fiancé who's always lecturing her about over-spending and his mother who's pissed at her over-gaining weight.
Soon, constant conflict threatens to dissolve all her relationships (except with her fabulous understanding and supportive cast of friends) and after one more unfaithful act to her fiancé and a shocking paternal discovery, Roxy's world threatens to cave in.
So LOL–can she really handle it all? And can the Rule family keep it together –or break under the pressure?
A tale about finding happiness, a bestfriend, and putting on a little weight to piss your mother-in-law so you don't fit into her wedding dress.
This book would be so relatable to you if you've kissed your best friend (Err, I tried to). Though let's face it, this story-line of breaking then ruining the friendzone is a constant done-before in the chick-lit genre (Lying To Meet You by Anna Garner to name a [memorable] few), Cat Lavoie makes hers unique with well-developed characters and a suspenseful plot.
I don't think there's been a chickroine that is more relatable. She loves food like most women, loves bingeing like most women do, isn't exactly thin like most chick-lit characters are, isn't afraid of putting on pounds, insecure (but not portrayed to irritating proportions). Just about every woman could confess they'd go to a party just because refreshments were on the program list or doesn't mind spending hours in the kitchen if it is slaving for others.-second star.
I liked the supporting cast who were her friends. Adam, the gay who owns a bar doomed for failure since it's establishment, and Tali, the hilarious workplace receptionist whose appearance always put a smile on my face.-third star.
You should love the ending of this book. Especially towards it. The suspense is at its peak when all water breaks loose and it kept me awake through the afternoon (I take naps). It was brilliantly ended with revelation of secrets upon secrets and when you think there's no hope for the chick and her-the rooster, one command to the cabbie changes it all.-fourth star
Now, I liked this book. But did I love, love it? Almost. I really wished the humor could go a notch higher-there were smiling moments and one or two laugh-out-loud ones (I am that shallow, make me laugh so hard and I wouldn't hesitate giving you a five star).
My rating would be
Breaking The Rules, Cat Lavoie's fine debut can be found at
I recommend this title for anyone who needs a novel with a chick who is more closer to human than a book character. Anyone who values family or anyone who doesn't. And anyone who loves conflict between fiancés, bride-to-bes and mother-in-laws.
Anticipating Cat Lavoie's second novel which I expect to be a laugh-out-loud, beach-y book. See cover here.
Always open to emails from anyone who'd like to gush about Breaking The Rules.
My work here not done here. Off to post my review on Goodreads as well as Amazon.
In Sicily, 1935 a four-year child walks away from her loving family, her mother, her sister and an infant brother, with a great-aunt for a vacation. She spends the next eight years of her life absent from their lives. It was not an abduction nor was it an adoption. Tina lives in a one-room house in one of the poorest regions of Sicily. She sleeps between a loving aunt and a deranged uncle. She shares her breakfast with goats and chickens while living in the shadow of fascism. The child grows up while WW II ravages the town. Her school is taken over by German soldiers and the things like bread and eggs that were once plentiful, no longer exist. Less than 25 kilometers away her family leads a very different life. After eight years, she returns home to find her childhood interrupted again. This time sickness, warfare and destruction are her enemies. In wartime Europe childhood does not exist. The child witnesses and experiences many disturbing things from her uncouth, unsanitary living conditions to the failed paratroopers dangling from trees during the allied invasion. Tina is a survivor. She is able to forgive those who took so much away from her. Her spirit trumps over adversity during the war times within and around her. As she grows older, she struggles to keep the harsh realities of World War II and abandonment at a distance through her sense of humor, imagination and determination. By the age of 15, her fate is sealed, again, without her permission. To gain passage to America she must accept the role as a war bride. A tyrannical,overbearing, bootlegging aunt in America arranges the match. Tina must live under her roof and her rules until her citizenship is secure. Tina has earned the right to complain, yet at no point does she play the victim. At times, her nonjudgmental stance is disquieting. Despite circumstances that could be categorized as abusive and undeniably negligent. Tina respects her parent's decisions and sacrifices herself for the greater good—even when it is not apparent to her. Despite a raging war, Tina thinks about her family and her friends more than about the horrors of the battle fought across the continents, even when she is a victim of the German soldiers’ mockery and the American soldier’s unusual ways. She is remarkably clever and insightful. The plot and setting are true to life in the period of the past. It will bring the history of war torn Europe to life, providing us a lens upon our collective past that define our unique lives. Tina triumphs against all odds with an unconditional love for a family that despite its profound flaws gave her the fortitude to carve out a successful life on her own terms. Given Away,A Sicilian Upbringing, demonstrates that even in the midst of the most horrendous conditions of war, without trivializing the historical tragedy, perseverance prevails as Tina declares what is rightfully hers.
"...not Chick-lit. BUT it's a book for chicks and a great lit."
That's How Marianna pitched to the blog. And by those words I thought to myself, "Hmm... why not give this not-chick-lit a try."
Great, great book. So I am going to write the shortest review.
Set in the era of 'Il Duce' regime when Italy was a bloc of fascists and illiterates, Marianna drops in tidbits of info during the period and keeps us informed about the political events as years pass by. Such background gives relevance to the story-line and gives the reader a clear and accurate imagination of the physical, mental and social states as well as the political institutions of the Italian citizenry in the early nineties right to the 1950s.
Written in third-person with easy-to-grasp language, the story is mostly told in the point-of-view of Tina. So being the main character, more is expected from Tinnuzza-and she gives you more than expected!
The novel opens with her being little, as the blurb states. It highlights all the events of this little girl's rough childhood and portrays her as a character we all sympathize to-yet adore!
At a young age, Tina is given out to her grand Aunt, Zia Vittoria, forcing her to evacuate the home she has known all her life and her family. Her stay with her great aunt Vittoria and his husband is not all blissful as her sister Lena thinks (since She's envious her little sister is taking a 'vacation' to the countryside they've only heard good things about). Her Uncle Gianni's house is a one- room house with about eighty percent occupied by the animals they rear (Yes, inside!), her new school teacher hates her and her uncle Gianni beats Zia Vittoria... every other night. The guy's a moron (not an uncommon trait in men during that age), but you will find him adorable because even if it's Tina who gets on his testy nerves he vents out all that anger on Vittoria and never lays a hand on Tina (... at least I found that adorable ). Vittoria is barren and can't give birth so it's not surprising she loves Tina with all her heart. Also, she has a poor fashion sense (shockingly Marrianna makes us aware that is uncommon in poverty-stricken Italy. Milan was the same as it is now) and holds on to her only pair of boots which have become somewhat of a signature look. Tina hates it at Vittoria's, telling her siblings whenever she comes back for Christmas, "The place has no trees!" (I would have broken a rib or two out of laughter if I was in that era). But no matter how much she wants to return for good, her mother wouldn't let her, and her father keeps being indifferent about the matter.
The question that plagued me most, was why Tina was Given Away (Err, no pun intended). I really didn't find a specific answer (ha! You think I'd share!), but I know who gave her away, and I can rant about her. Tina's mum, Sarina, takes the attribute of a 'baby factory'. This woman looooves to produce and she's prolific as a doe. Yet she doesn't bother taking care of the babies. Raised from a family of artists in some kind of craft, she has a keen eye for what's in fashion and what's not. Having a very generous heart and providing for the poor, questions like the above got me confused. If you can care for people who are not your own, why can't you care for your daughter? Francesco, Tina's father, is the fascist. He aligns himself with Mussolini knowing he is going to be raised above ranks... until Mussolini gets trampled by Adolph Hitler and the Nazi forces.
Tina's family is one big extended Italian family (shocker she didn't have Her Big Fat Italian Wedding). There are all her artistic aunts and uncles on her mother's side, great aunts, great uncles, grand parents. On Sarina's side the women take procreation too seriously. And in those days there was no mention of rubber, IUDs and foam tablets. But hadn't they heard of coitus? It's intriguing how Marianna makes the novel so crowded yet it's not difficult to remember each of those relatives since they've all got memorable traits. Zia Nancy with a tendency to spit (on Tina). Vincenzo, an OCD uncle. Nino, another uncle with a good eye for Haute Couture. Giannuzza, an aunt who depises her sister Sarina for being one of those women who produce more than they will take care of.
Soon there's war in Italy. War brings poverty, starvation and... a fall in Fashion trends. Sarina's reduced to selling her clothes for bread. And the whole family lives on an Orange-a-day diet. Marrianna describes this scene of abject poverty and violence so vividly readers experience a flashback to that era of Nazi domination in Europe, monochrome pictures with children, women and the old shivering in their thin clothes along the streets amidst an ongoing parade of Nazi forces to instill fear in the vulnerable. During the war, Tina's life is still alternating between her family home at Christmas and her great aunt's. It's important to note that in Sicily where her family resides there are no severe bombings, but in Vittoria the bombings even occur in schools, wounding and killing children. It's rather unfortunate that when Tina goes back home, there's no food even if the risk of having a grenade dropping on your lap is lower, but that isn't the same story in Vittoria where she's feasting on lots of porcupine (sweet!) from Gianni's hunting expeditions.
As the novel goes on there's lots of tragedy and growth on the part of Tina. She's no longer the little girl we used to know, but is developing into a grown woman who has taken to writing journals Marianna keeps giving us a peek into by introducing a chapter with 'Tina's Journal' and taking a swift turn from thirdperson to first-person narrative. I always looked forward to reading Tina's journals since they offer a fresh perspective from Marianna's (No offense taken, Marianna? I hope. You look ageless in your photos. ). And Tina also begins to develop an interest in singing. Her popular songs are Let's Go and Mamma (she wrote them herself). But does she have a beautiful voice? Hmm.... let's note that Italians are better of doing Opera.
Soon Tina has to live for America where she works diligently, indulges in an entanglement with Tony (romance we'd been waiting for, for ages), and whenever she gets the chance she records a track and sends it to her parents who are not faring well after Mussolini's fall.
Throughout the book, themes such as love, family, responsibilities are touched on. These themes are portrayed beautifully by Marianna. I was dazzled by the structure of this novel since the continuous flow of events were rhythmic. There's no suspense in this tale, even towards the end. There's no feeling of oh-I-want-to-see-how-this-ends. Everything was soothing and relaxing. With everything falling into place. It was like reading a memoir. In the end, Marianna explains how each and every one of the characters' lives turned out: some were successful, others were not and for others the reproduction rate kept increasing.
Villain role in this novel could be taken up by Zia Nancy who brought Tina to America and wanted to dictate every aspect of her life including rebuking her for indulging in a little binging. But I do understand her, she plays matchmaker of the family and it's hard to get a groom for a plump bride-in those times. And Uncle Gianni stops being Villain once you forget all the maltreatment inflicted on his wife. Arch-villain would go to Hitler, though he doesn't make a physical appearance, his actions contribute to a majority of Tina's suffering.
There isn't supposed to be humor in this book, but sometimes the plight of the characters sends me into gales of laughter. Take for example this excerpt, taken during the time the people of Vittoria had to evacuate their places of residence due to the appearance of American forces to rescue them from the Germans. American paratroopers were mistakenly caught in trees. And this happens when the people were evacuating in a bunch:
'Throughout the fields hundreds of children were busy cutting up and stealing the yards of silk parachute materials from their ropes. The material would prove to be a sturdy cloth for the desperately needed clothes. A torn beige parachute created knickers, blouses, brassieres, and within days, strips from parachute portions were sported by children as new short pants.'
Never in my blogging years did I ever think I will pick a title like this to review, and little did I know I was going to give it a.....
Given Away, A Sicilian Upbringing is available at Amazon.
Too much sorrow, too much domestic violence, too much hunger and too much excitement. I didn't mind the throughly informative Sicilian education. One history lesson I didn't want to doze off to (shocker!).
Somewhere in this novel, I wasn't blind to the fact that this fiction, uh, has lots of facts in it. And Marianna, I would do a little snooping-for my own benefit, if you don't come out. It would be good to know all these happened in real life.
My work not done here. Off to post my review on Goodreads.
Well, I said I will do a short review didn't I?
