Don't Wait for the Call

How to Meet Cute Boys

Book Review: How to Meet Cute Boys by Deanna Kizis

Twenty-seven-year-old Benjamina Franklin (and you thought you had identity problems) is the dating scene authority for L.A.'s Filly magazine, dispensing advice on everything from relationship survival tips to tweezing the perfect eyebrow. But Ben's own love life has been on a downhill roll ever since she broke up with her dull, prematurely balding boyfriend. Now her younger sister is getting married -- and since going dateless is a prospect Ben simply can't bear, she has exactly six months to find a boyfriend. At a Filly fashion bash, she meets Max, who's gorgeous, successful, interested ... and may not be quite what he seems.

How to Meet Cute Boys is the most riotous and right-on novel about the singles scene to come out in years. This book is for anyone who's ever turned the pages of a women's magazine, looking for the answer to all that dating madness!

This book had me laughing out loud. It was fresh, extremely funny and had virtually no flowery language. Don't you get sick of books that make descriptions last for two pages? This book does none of that. It's nitty-gritty, get-to-the-point kind of book. For those of you sensitive to strong language, I wouldn't recommend this book. The author makes liberal use of profanity but I have to say, it adds to the characters. Here's one of my favorite excerpts: The main character Ben (short for Benjamina Franklin) is in the bathroom crying because the love her life just passed her by at a party and didn't even acknowledge her.
________________________

But then I thought I heard a sniffle.

I sniffled.

Sniffle

Was that my sniffle echoing, I thought, or someone else's sniffle?

I sniffled.

Sniffle.

"Who's there?" I said.

No answer.

So I waited, completely silent, dying to sniffle but not letting myself, and then, Sniffle.

"Who is that?"

A little voice: "Nobody."

Unbelievable.

"Audrey, is that you?"

"No."
________________________

See what I mean? It's as if you were in one of those stalls in the restroom with Ben and Audrey. The whole book is like this and though I got a little tired of Ben's whining (is he gonna call or isn't he?) the pace was fast and there was always something zany happening in her life.

Reading this book left me feeling very, very thankful - That I don't have to wade through the single's scene anymore. It was hard enough in the 80's, let alone today. There is so much more to be aware of now, I'm not sure I could keep it all straight.

This is definitely a girlie read; I don't think the guys would understand it, let alone appreciate it. No, there's no men-bashing in this book, it simply points how differently men and women think.

The author has a really amusing writing style, sort of a tongue-in-cheek, cynical, yet vulnerable style. The author herself is the West Coast Editor for Elle magazine, so her views about relationships are a bit jaded (read too many of those "Does he love me or is he using me" sort of articles in "women's" magazines and it's bound to mess with your perspective) but I have to admit, her humor is what won me.

Do I recommend this book? Only if you don't mind profanity, though I will admit, it makes the characters more vibrant in a crude way.

It's a good book to read if you're depressed about your real-life relationship and need a funny story to cheer you up.

What did I take away from this book? That keeping flowery description out of prose and inserting realistic observations about life is sometimes the better route.

Moral: Life's too short to wait around for him to call.