Holly's Inbox by Holly Denham

I heard about this book on an online book club that I frequent and hopping around on Goodreads. It's gotten rave reviews from chick-lit lovers and non chick-lit lovers alike. Told only in the form of emails in (you guessed it!) Holly's inbox... it's a very fast paced read. You wouldn't think so, as it's 672 pages, but trust me, I read it in like 4 hours. It goes quickly.

It is about Holly, a british thirty something who has just started working as a receptionist at a very successful bank in London. It's loaded with sassy humor and wit, and a few times I found myself chuckling to myself.

It actually started out as a very fun website. The website is in the form of a working outlook inbox and you can read through her excerpts from her first three months at the bank.

It's taken me a few days to work up this post, because I'm just not sure how to write it without tearing the book apart, which I don't want to do!

It was a fun read. I was engaged and pulled into the story and Holly is a great character. The supporting characters are a blast as well. However...

And there is no way I can do this without spoilers... So spoiler warning. If you're aching to read this, don't read on. If you're not - read on. I want your thoughts. (this also contains spoilers for Bridget Jones' Diary...)

That's where the appreciation stops.

A few of the major plot points:

Told in email form, it's the story of Holly, a british thirty something who has just started working in the corporate world.

Holly quickly begins an affair with a VP, her boss. They flirt through email and he comments on her clothes and she decides to flaunt them by walking past him. She even buys a slitted skirt after he mentions liking them.

VP boss turns out to be a total douche and cheats on her

Holly runs into a childhood friend/her first flame

Holly gets wasted and nearly makes a fool of herself at a company party

Holly has problems with her kooky parents and her mother constantly interferes.

Holly is very insecure.

Holly eventually winds up with high school sweetheart that she runs into.

I'm sorry, but you can just replace Holly with Bridget. There was no originality in this plot, save the s&m club, but that's a different story. I loved Trisha. I loved reading it, because it was very fun. More fun than Bridget Jones' Diary (for me).

I'm not normally a chick lit person, and that could be partly to blame for my disapointment in this book, but I just wish there had been a bit more originality. A few people have written it off as chick-lit rarely being original, but I think this is a bit much.

Thoughts?

Verdict - B-:I really really really wanted to love this book. and I did enjoy reading it. I'm just sad that it lacked so much in the originality dept.