Book Review - Serendipity
Serendipity by Melanie La’Brooy
Hero always said that it was Sunday’s fault that she ever met Oscar in the first place. Although it was true that Sunday couldn’t possibly have foreseen that Hero donning a wig would lead to the gorilla-gram, the life-size cardboard cut-out of George W. Bush or the incident in the sex shop.
So begins what I firmly believe to be one of the best examples of chick lit ever written, Serendipity by Melanie La’Brooy. Chick lit is a somewhat maligned genre, and this is not without good reason. The overwhelming majority of chick lit is poorly written and predictable in the extreme.
Serendipity, by contrast, is smart and funny. It is sweet and gorgeous and cheerful, and all of the principal characters are immensely likeable; even though, and perhaps because, they are far from perfect.
Serendipity certainly contains its unrealistic moments, those mentioned in the quote above probably being the best examples of them, but that’s half the fun of reading fiction. If Oscar and Hero’s story wasn’t an exaggerated version of reality, then it would probably be incredibly boring.
If you’re willing to check your notions of realistic romance at the door, Serendipity is a beautifully written story that will make you laugh out loud, and maybe even make you believe that kind of romance isn’t so unrealistic after all.