Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married By Marian Keyes

Janelle

Delicious. I can’t think of any other word to use other than delicious.

Before this book, I would have declared myself a hardcore chick-lit fan. I can rattle of a list of writers from both the US and the UK. I can take pictures of my shelves showing rows and rows of chick-lit novels. I can preach to you about how I love the way Megan Crane speaks to women my age, the way Jennifer Crusie speaks to women my size, the way Jill Mansell makes me dream of the UK and all it has to offer. I was convinced I knew chick-lit inside and out.

Ha. Silly me. Enter Marian Keyes.

I had just finished Keyes’ Sushi for Beginners and, while it mildly entertained me, it left me…well, for lack of a better word, bored. After sharing this with one of my LitSnit ladies, Erin, she recommended Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married, stating that it was her favorite Keyes’ book. I almost turned it down but at the last-minute snatched it because I needed a book for the train.
THANK GOD.

From the first page Marian Keyes creates a world and cast of characters that you want to hold and never let go. Each character is complete, from the few appearances of a video rental clerk to Ms. Lucy Sullivan herself, with their own particular idiosyncrasies and stories. The author’s commitment to this cast and this world is so great that from page one your eyes are STUCK. There are no pages you want to skip. There is no part you struggle to get through. There’s no desire to put it down.

I will admit…there are chick-lit novels that will skim the surface and focus on a life that seems to consist of nothing but shopping, romance and glamour with no actual problems or conflicts. What Keyes’ creates in this genre, is ART. While many moments of hilarity exist, this book is grounded in reality showing a great deal of emotional depth. Lucy is not your typical heroine. Sure, she is addicted to men who treat her wrong (who hasn’t been at one time? …don’t answer that), has a love for clothes and a desire to party a great deal BUT Lucy also has an alcoholic father, a somewhat broken relationship with her mother and extremely low self-esteem. What I love about this book is that Marian Keyes attacks both sides equally leaving no stone left unturned.

I have read this book three times in the last two weeks. I have sat here for an entire week trying to figure out how to express how much I loved this book. From Lucy’s romances to her roommates and coworkers, I have laughed out loud on the train, at home, at the park. Every time, it has been a wonderful ride.

Am I ridiculously gushing? Maybe. Am I serious? YES.

Rebecca

Keyes' 2nd book, I think and after reading this one, I definitely do NOT want to read her first book. This book was horrible. I hated the protag so much I just wanted to reach in and strangle her. I hate women like this so so so much.

Lucy and her co-workers go to a psychic after work on day and she tells them all one thing and she tells Lucy that she will get married in a year. Turns out currently, Lucy has no boyfriend. Within a week, all the predictions that the psychic gave to her co-workers all came true, so they are all convinced that Lucy's will as well! Lucy meets Gus who is a total alcoholic and walks all over her and she allows it. Her roommate Karen starts to date a childhood friend of hers, Daniel around the same time and Karen walks all over her too. And Lucy puts up with it. Her father is an alcoholic, but of course, she doesn't see it and when her mother finally leaves her father, she moves home to take care of him, even though, of course, he treats her like shit too. Gus moves in and out of her life, pretty much whenever he remembers she exists and she pays for everything, but Lucy likes being needed. Like all prior Keyes' books that I have read, this one is bogged down with so many freakin' details. Oy. Pretty much, it ends with her finally realizing her pattern with men is because of her dad and she drops them all and realizes she is in love with Daniel, who has since broken up with Karen. They confess their love, sleep together and Daniel asks Lucy to marry him. She doesn't say yes or no at the end of the book.

God, I hate characters like this. It was so bloody annoying to watch Lucy get walked all over, I wanted to roll my eyes at ever situation.

Grade: F

Nat K

”I loved thunderstorms - the only time I really felt at peace with myself was during a storm. All of the turmoil and exuberance seemed to calm me.”

I’ve been taking a bit of a trek down memory lane with my choice of book lately. I’ve felt the need to find something cosy and comfortable to read. Something that I remember enjoying. Where you could get lost in a book, and really shut out the world while reading it. One where I didn’t have to think, but just feel. I wasn’t up to starting something new. I wanted to catchup with old friends. So the other weekend, I went scouring my bookshelves, and there it was! Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married. Yes! That’s the one.

Ahhhh...a book set in the days pre-mobile phone, social media and 24/7 angst. Where life was about ”...eating takeaways, drinking too much wine, bringing men home and never hoovering.” (try putting that blurb on the cover of a book now).

I distinctly remember being drawn to the bright purple cover of this book when I bought it. My first ever Marian Keyes (who I adore - or is it “whom” - as she’s just plain FABLISS). It was another book that I bought at the now long gone Max Ell’s bookshop. It was a Friday arvo, traipsing home to the bus stop, exhausted after a long week at work, and there were the bright lights of the bookshop beckoning me inside.

Another memory I have of reading this book the first time around, is that when I started it, I could not put it down. I just had to know how things would work out for Lucy and the charming, unreliable Gus, who she’s just met. I read most of the book in one go, sitting on the kitchen floor. Why was I reading it from the kitchen floor? I really don’t know. I have a vague idea I may have been making a cuppa, and while waiting for the kettle to boil, I got engrossed in the book. And forgot about the cuppa.

Lucy works in an office. Lucy is bored with her job. Lucy lives on low-fat diet yoghurt throughout the week, then splurges on pizza, curries and drinks on the weekend. Lucy’s wages are spent the day she gets paid. Lucy has a very difficult relationship with her mother. Lucy adores her father. Lucy lives for Friday nights and the weekend. Lucy has just dropped her boyfriend for being “too nice”. She didn’t entirely trust him for being this way. For making her feel too comfortable. She was disappointed at his neverending tenderness and devotion. It made her suspicious. It was driving her to distraction ”I had expected a wolf and had been fobbed off with a sheep.” He had to go.

Lucy and her fellow office slaves, Hetty, Meridia and Megan have a date with destiny. They’re off to have their fortunes told by an Irish psychic, a Mrs.Nolan. Who was very very good, as everyone knows ”There seemed to be a direct link between how difficult it was to get to a fortune-teller’s house and how good their reputation was. The more inaccessible and off putting the venue, the higher the quality of the predictions, was the most widely held view.”

Of course, Lucy is told that she will be getting married. Within a year. But who could it be? She doesn’t even have a boyfriend. She's just broken up with him. But as predictions for her workmates start to come eerily true, Lucy wonders if the gorgeous, eccentric Gus, who she’s fallen in lust with at a party, Gus of the Irish accent, twinkling eyes, and faerie dust blarney, could be “the one”. Everything seems to be pointing that way.

What really stood out to me reading this the second time around, is that Lucy suffers from depression. I can’t say that I remember this from reading it all those years ago. Within the first few chapters, when Lucy visits the psychic, Mrs. Nolan says something that strikes a chord, and Lucy admits that ”A dark cloud, was exactly how I described the bouts of depression that I sometimes got.” And perhaps saddest of all, is the deep embarrassment Lucy feels from feeling this way.

I think we’ve all had those awful gauche, awkward moments. Where we’re convinced the world is watching us and we just didn’t feel so uncomfortable in our own skin. Like it didn’t quite fit.

I don’t recall what I thought of this topic when I first read it. You have to remember, this book was written way back in ‘96, where things such as mental health and wellness weren’t the open topics they are today. It simply wasn’t something that was really spoken of or admitted to. I mean, anyone could have a “bad day” or be “down in the dumps”, but not actually depressed. Admitting to depression wasn’t really something that was done. It tended to be swept under the carpet. So with this in mind, it’s interesting to see how far ahead of the times Marian Keyes’ was with adding this to her storyline, over twenty years ago.

Another topic which really stood out to me with the fresh eyes of a re-read is the storyline of alcoholics and alcoholism. The impacts not only on the individual suffering from it, but on their friends and family. And the relationship patterns that tend to repeat from one generation to another. Being a charming, affable drunk in your 20s, doesn’t have quite the same amount of appeal in middle age, when the tarnish in the gilt is showing. And people are just plain exhausted from dealing with unreliability.

I didn’t manage to read this in either one or even two sittings this time around. Nor did I read this sitting on the kitchen floor. But I loved it just as much as the first time. I picked up on so many nuances of seriousness that I didn’t notice when I read it the first time, as I was so focussed on the fun, lighthearted stuff.

Oddly enough, this ended up being my work’s Bookclub pick for the month. Talk about change of pace and complete change of genre. I was taken aback when this was given the green light, as this was my little (or big) comfort read during another month of iso. And somehow it ended up being “the book”. I’ll be curious to hear what the others think when we have our virtual Bookclub meeting next month.

This is a big book, coming in at around 700 odd pages. But it didn’t feel that way to me. I loved it, and got lost in Lucy’s story again. Lots of humour, lots of warmth. A definite comfort read. So glad I hopped on board the nostalgia train.

Still a 5☆ read for me. Even with the benefit of hindsight. Older, but not necessarily wiser.

This is one of those rare occasions where I wonder where a well liked character is today. And kinda wish the writer would revisit her story (Marian? Hallo?!). Wherever Lucy Sullivan is, I hope she is doing just fabliss.

Addition to original review: 06.October.2020

I felt a sense of trepidation attending today’s Bookclub at lunchtime, as this is when I’d hear what they thought of this book. Gulp. It wasn’t “officially” chosen as the Bookclub read. It kind of just happened...I mentioned I was reading it at our last catchup, and how much I was wallowing in my nostalgia train of happiness, when Jo said “Let’s read this one”, and the rest is history. As I mentioned in the body of my review, I was super surprised that this was selected as our Bookclub book, as we have some very serious readers in our group. I’m talking super smart readers. Yes, literary prize readers. Hard hitters. I’m talking “War and Peace” readers. Whereas I read for fun and pleasure. For the sheer enjoyment of it. If I learn something along the way, that’s great. I’m an emotive reader. I don’t go out of my way to select books that will necessarily challenge me. Enough of that happening in daily life.

Here's the Bookclub verdict. While most of the others found the book was “light and fluffy”, it was agreed that there were darker underlying themes of addiction featured throughout. Wrapped up in humour. And that you do not understand the reality of someone’s life, unless you live it yourself, even if only for a little while. The more mature women amongst us, could see from a mile away that the charming Gus was all smoke and mirrors, and not at all the type of person to get involved with. Let alone fall in love with. Ah, the sweet folly of youth!

So overall, this book was enjoyed by all, with varying levels of enjoyment. Those of us that read it previously when it was released, seemed to enjoy it just as much on their second reading. Whereas those who were brand new to it, didn't have quite the same level of attachment. It's interesting to realise how much of yourself you invest in books, and how when/where you first read them, can still have such an impact so many years later.

Rosh [busy month; will catch up soon!]

Typical, predictable, irksome. Not like what everyone told me to expect from Marian Keyes.
Read this ages ago. So don't ask for more details. I remember nothing more. 😉

Rachel

There is a fine line between making a character lovably neurotic and making them unbearable and impossible to empathize with. This book falls into the latter category.

Rossy

4.5 stars
Although I'm not really fond of chick-lit, and this book was predictable, I loved it!
Sure, I HATED HATED HATED, (did I say hated?) some characters (Karen and Gus), but even they seemed normal, real, people we've all dealt with at one time or another.
Some would say Lucy's character is weak, not a proper leading lady, but, even when I wanted to slap some sense into her, I adored her and understood her. She has a job she hates, roommates she loves and hates, coworkers that are one of a kind, boyfriends that are leaches or plain wrong, a best friend who is her rock but dissapears when he has a girlfriend, a mother she can't stand and a father she adores, both of who have secrets as every family does...
A long book, but a fast read, entertaining one, for sure! I couldn't keep my hands/eyes off of it!

Booksutd

First, a confession – a confession which will, conceivably, invalidate my entire review. I hate chick lit. There, I’ve said it. I avoid pink covers like the plague. I’m a chick, and I like lit, but the genre commonly known as ‘chick lit’ – can’t stand it. I find it patronising. Men, shopping and diets – is this all women are supposed to be interested in? Couldn’t we have a novel about a 20- or 30-something woman struggling to unravel the meaning of life, or pursuing her lifelong dream of excavating lost Mayan cities in the jungles of Belize? Couldn’t we? Just one?

Perhaps – probably, even – it’s snobbishness. And if you like fluffy novels about a woman going on diets, straying off diets, going shopping, and wondering whether the bloke in her office fancies her, who am I to wag my finger? Disregard this review, if you fit into this category. You don’t want to know my opinion. You really don’t.

Anyway, on to the example of chick lit in question – Marian Keyes’Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married. I picked an old paperback copy of this off my sister’s shelves during a long week in which I had little to do and nothing to read. My sister – who has very different literary tastes to mine – swooned. ‘Ooh!’ she squealed. ‘You’ve GOT to read that book! You’ll LOVE it!’

Well, high praise indeed, coming from the woman who didn’t get past the first chapter of War and Peace, and who thinks that Shakespeare is overrated. So perhaps I was being unfair. Perhaps, I reasoned, the fault lay with me, and if I gave chick lit a second chance I’d enjoy it. I sat down and started to read.

And to be fair, I kept on reading to the very end, so obviously this book isn’t a complete loss. I was even, occasionally, mildly interested in our heroine, Lucy Sullivan’s, chaotic life. I mean, it’s not like I’m completely heartless, or anything. Everyone dreams of finding their one true love, surely, and everyone’s entitled to feel a bit miserable when that one true love fails to materialise. Lucy fits into that category. When a psychic tells her that she’ll get married within a year, Lucy is puzzled, given that she doesn’t even have a boyfriend. Besides, Lucy is saddled with a job she hates, and ageing parents whom she also appears to hate. Will she find Mr Right, or is it all going to go badly wrong? (Well, it’s chick lit, so the ending’s a bit of a foregone conclusion, but still...)

Anyway, the good. Well, Keyes has a sure touch for humour, and there are a few giggles to be had here. She understands what she’s writing about, and the silliness and shallowness of young women, and the chaotic mechanics of house-sharing, are nicely portrayed. Also – and somewhat to my surprise – there is actually an attempt to inject something a bit more interesting into the usual chick lit fairy cake mix. Lucy, it transpires, suffers from depression, which adds something a bit darker and grittier than I was expecting.

The bad? Same old, same old. Shopping, sex and diets. Don’t these airheads ever think about anything else? Why don’t they read books (other than chick lit)? Why don’t they examine their motivations, engage in politics, explore philosophy or psychology? Listen to classical music? Try to find a job they really like, rather than one they hate? Do any of the above? Even think about doing them, dammit? Wouldn’t these activities make their pointless lives just slightly more bearable?

Oh well. Sorry, Marian. It’s not you, it’s me. We just like different things, I suppose. You like worrying about men and diets; I despise myself when I find myself worrying about these things, and try to find something rather weightier to agonise over. I say to-mah-to, you say to-may-to; let’s call the whole thing off. You’ve got legions of fans who love you; you won’t miss me. I have my serious books to nourish my pretensions of intellectual superiority.

Namratha

I liked this book…I really did. 740-pages strong, it had a right blend of eccentricities, romance, predictability and enough icky-moments to keep me hooked.

Lucy Sullivan is a typical Londoner. Twenty-six years old, she is burdened with a dysfunctional family, a dead-end job, an anal-retentive boss, a medley of demented colleagues, flat mates who totter on the thin line between heaven and hell AND a love-life that’s riddled with enough potholes to make you dizzy.

And then a tarot-reader proclaims that Lucy will be getting married within a year. When she sees the fortunes of her colleagues coming true in varying degrees, the cynical Lucy is intrigued (and a tad hopeful). Suddenly, men are popping out of the woodwork. Who will be the one who will walk down the aisle with Lucy? Gus, the penniless freeloader? Daniel, the incorrigible flirt ? Chuck, the beefy blind-date? …or perhaps Jed, the new office colleague?

So it’s a typical book with the typical drama and hi-jinx that litter your usual estrogen-infused chick-lit. What ups-the-ante is Marian Keyes’ flair for story-telling. Her words flow along with Lucy’s misadventures. A good splash of sarcasm, ooodles of witty repartee and the ability to transform whiny stop-gaps into pages of quirky dialogue make this book a real winner.

Lucy is a character you can associate with. She is confidently sassy but prone to bouts of depression too. The supporting line-up is brilliant , especially the flat mates: Charlotte (the dumb blonde who is just smart enough to know that people think she is a dumb blonde) and Karen (the seriously, scary frenemy with an ability to kill all the house-plants with a single deathly stare).

A fun read that helps you escape and yet.....keeps you tethered with it’s take on realistic situations.

Laura

This book has gotten a bad rap in the reviews on here, but I really liked it. Yes, I knew who the mystery man groom to be was going to be very early on, but who cares. Krystal, I agree that watching her develop (my only beef was that she was 26 and it seemed like this development should have happened earlier in life, but that's just me being judgemental). You can see her slowly change her attitude about herself, the men in her life, how she should be treated. There's a turning point I love in a snooty restaurant where you know there's no going back.

I really enjoyed the writing, the apt description of complex emotions (like a certain type of humiliation) or thoughts that go through your head during certain sitations. Even just descriptions of day to day struggles (like getting out of bed each morning for work) was just dead on.

But I also like the change of pace (from a typical storyline) in that she falls in love before lust. It's such a common themes in the books I've been reading for a character to be all hot for a guy, but really hates him and has to learn to get over that or something. Maybe I'm just feeling old fashioned today, but I thought the development of her relationship with the mystery man (no spoilers here!) was beautiful to watch. And the way he treated her was just so realistically romantic to me (not the typical swooping you off to Paris or something, but giving you a ride, making you dinner, etc).

Maybe I'm a hopeless romantic, but I thought this was a good book.

vorbore

We are not amused. After I got into the story a bit, it was not funny, but sickening. The leading character, Lucy, has so many problems and issues, and is completely out of touch with reality. She treats in the worst possible manner only those who really care for her, at the same time being every body else's doormat. Her head was not the nicest place for me to spend time in. I know this is supposed to be a light reading, and that was what I expected, but the theme is not light at all, and the way, and the speed with which Lucy resolved her load of emotional and psychological problems in the last few pages of the book was implausible. She gets to take care of her father for few months, and suddenly she sees him as he really is, while during some twenty years of growing up in her family home she never suspected anything, saw anything, heard any rumors or gossips that would make her to think twice? Also, the actual happy ending that she/we received was inexplicable to me, because Daniel's persistence further stretched my suspension of disbelief until it ended up like Cassandra without moisturizing. Not to mention that everybody gets to keep their (paid) jobs without actually doing any work. Not amused at all.

Katrina

So far this is my least favorite Marian Keyes novel. I've even stopped partway through to read Rachel's Holiday and Conversations with the Fat Girl and felt somewhat reluctant to continue reading it. I finally did finish it though, just to see if it at some point would have a redeeming quality. For now, it feels like this novel appears in sepia while all other Keyes books I've read are in technicolor (yes, my description is cliche, but it fits!).

After reading, I still feel the same way. I stopped reading right around when Lucy first met Gus, because I HATED him from the start and I hated the interaction that Lucy had with him. Glad to see my contempt was not misguided. I was disgusted with Lucy everytime she so easily let Gus back into her life, which also made it difficult to continue reading the story. I agree with others who have mentioned that it was obvious who Lucy would end up with, but it was barely worth the wait to see how it would happen. I didn't give this book two stars, despite my criticism because there were still quite a few parts that had me laughing out loud.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Upon a second reading, I enjoyed this book much more. I still loathe Gus and all Lucy allows him to put her through. I'm still keeping my rating at three stars though, but a heartier three stars than before.

Kylie

Lucy Sullivan and Co are a group of people I NEVER EVER EVER want to have in my life! Lucy is a fucking door mat half the time and allows people to treat her like total shit, then the other half of the time she treats people like absolute shit. This was not an enjoyable world to enter. At least 300 pages can be cut from this book giving you the exact same reading experience, in fact if it was 300 pages less I probably would have enjoyed it more.

Huma

I was in a mood for something different after reading the phenomenal legal thriller
Sycamore Row so I picked up this 600 pages long chick-lit from my shelf. I ordinarily don't buy chick-lit books because I'd rather buy mysteries and thrillers, which I absolutely love reading. This book came from a box of some 25 assorted books which my father bought for me from a whole-sale market for just Rs. 2000.

SPOILERS Ahead. Consider yourself warned!!

Lucy Sullivan is the worst type of heroine you can read about and I was absolutely appalled by the behavior of most of these characters. These are the most repugnant set of characters that I have ever read. Why did I continue reading the book, you may ask. Honestly, I thought about abandoning this book a million times through its 600 pages. But there were two reasons that kept me going.

First reason is that sadly these characters are truly based on real life behavior of people around us. The bossy-friend-whom-you-can't-say-no-to, the siblings-who-don't-give-a-damn-about-your-parents and the coworkers-who-earn-the-same-as-you-but-don't-do-a-minute's-worth-work; we have all met these people at one time or another in our life. I was curious to read more about the intolerable behavior of these people.

The second reason is that I was really mortified with the spineless Lucy, who seemed to be living on cloud nine. She was completely oblivious of the things happening around her. She was angry with her mother for being angry with her out-of-job, alcoholic father. In fact she absolutely refused to accept that her father was an alcoholic. I was curious to see how Keyes turned Lucy into a heroine worthy of our time. I must say that Keyes does the part of bringing Lucy down to earth in a grand fashion...almost tempting me to give 3 stars to this book.

The best part of this book, Lucy quoting
Gone with the Wind's Rhett Butler to her lousy boyfriend:

But Lucy, I've no money."
I put my face up to his and smiled.
He smiled back.
"Frankly my dear," I beamed, "I don't give a damn."
I had always wanted to say that.

Heather

A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away I read my first Marian Keyes book, I actually cannot believe it was 18 years ago. Which of course makes me feel extremely old!

I decided to review this book today as a walk down memory lane, revisiting the fab story of little Lucy Sullivan and whether or not she gets married. I have read a lot of Marian's books over the course of the last 18 odd years but this story has to be my favourite, not only is an excellent story it also reminds me of a time of my life when I was young and sorta innocent!

Lucy Sullivan works in London and her well meaning (interfering) workmates drag her along to meet the revered psychic Mrs Nolan. Naturally sceptical of all things like this, Lucy is prepared to take it all with a pinch of salt . Mrs Nolan tells Lucy that she will be married within the year, her workmates are overjoyed, Lucy is underwhelmed, she doesn't even have a boyfriend let alone a potential fiancé.

Her flatmates also mock her news, Karen and Charlotte are very different but they love their lives and the single girl lifestyle that they lead. A man will never come between them all. Not until Lucy meets Gus.

Gorgeous Gus, Crazy Gus, Ever So Unreliable Gus, he is not exactly Prince Charming but to Lucy, well to Lucy he is her knight in shining armour. Her best friend Daniel disagrees, he does not trust Gus one little bit, but Lucy won't be told so he leaves her be.

Daniel is the world's biggest flirt, women throw their knickers at him wherever he goes and when he starts dating Lucy's flatmate Karen, Lucy finds herself mortified and strangely jealous, but she has got Gus why should she be jealous?

As her relationship with Gus develops she starts to realise that maybe he is not Mr Fantastic after all, things don't add up and he really likes a good drink, is he worth it? Especially as Daniel seems to be looking at her with eyes more akin to a lover than a friend.

Who is Lucy's Mr Right?

Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married is a fabulous story with plenty of humour, lots of well versed girly chats and bitching, it is basically one big fun read. I love Marian's style of writing and her books have been a mainstay on my shelf for a long time and for many years to come.

Rebekah

I’m afraid I am going to have to give Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married just 3 stars. 5 stars for the writing, humor, and character development and one star for Lucy herself. I just got fed up with her. I could easily rant rave for paragraphs about how painfully blind and ignorant she was about everything throughout the whole book. But I won’t. (How could any modern woman think a pill or acupuncture could cure alcoholism?) Psychologically, I understood from the beginning why she fell into a relationship with a piece of pond scum like Gus, but why did she allow herself to be bullied by Karen? It’s explained at the end why she was so mean to the too-good-for-her Daniel, but I still couldn’t stand it. We are told how clever she is, but she is shown to be just the opposite page after page. Also, the end could have included more of a mending of her relationship with her mother once the lightbulb finally came on. Lucy was cruel and mean to her. She dealt with the useless drunk for 30 years. And Lucy barely lasted a couple of months. Where was the love, gratitude, sorrow, and compassion for her poor mother? I at least needed an apology. This was a major letdown and to me a big flaw in Lucy's road to self-awareness and growth.

I listened to this on audio and the narration for all of the female characters was excellent. The men’s voices were really bad though. Especially our hero, Daniel. Anne McCallister made him sound like a punch drunk blockhead.

Mela

The 90ties of "The Friends" (yes, I belong to those who don't know how many times already they saw the series ;-) ) but much much wiser. I loved it!

It was very nice and we were very grateful to get the beautifully wrapped (albeit reluctantly given) gift of sexual liberation, but who was the out-oftouch, aged great-aunt that gave us the hand-crocheted coordinating packages of guilt?
She wouldn’t be getting a thank-you card.

The wit was hilarious.I laughed out loud many times.

The characters so full of flaws, so human. Read: so real.

I seemed to spend my whole life oscillating between feeling horribly conspicuous and then feeling totally invisible.

I was in so much pain that I couldn’t imagine not feeling it

The main Lucy's issue was brilliantly built. No fairy-tales, to the end.

It wasn't about how Lucy was getting married, it was about how Lucy was becoming Lucy. And it was a wonderful (although sometimes painful) road.

Emily

I know, I know, it's total chick lit and maybe I should go easy on it...but nah. That said, there were a few things about this book I liked. First of all, it made me laugh out loud a few times. However, now that I know Keyes is capable of hilarity, I would have liked it to happen more often, since the book is absurdly long. I also liked that Lucy was not portrayed as being a totally normal girl-- she's dealt with depression throughout her life. Although the plot is totally predictable, it's fun to see how everyone gets there. What I really didn't like was that most of the supporting characters were total stereotypes. This was such a turn-off for me that, like another reviewer, I was tempted to stop reading after the first few pages.

Joana

When you have a book with 740 pages, it's not a very good sign that you can guess the whole story by page 35. Yes, when I read: "Daniel was my friend and, while he was the closest thing that I had to a steady man in my life, I wouldn't have become emotionally involved with him if the future of the human race depended on it." I could have stopped there and moved on.
But I didn't, so I endured 700 more pages of predictable merry-go-round chicklit. I'll seriously ponder before I pick another one of these books because they're not even very good for a laugh anymore. It was moderately entertaining, it dragged on for quite a bit, the male characters were one-dimensional as usual....I should have stopped reading these after my teens passed.

Ms. Miller

I remember finishing this book, and staring at the last period on the last page saying to myself, "I WANT TO KEEP READING!" It was refreshingly funny, and although it was over 500 pages, it was such a light and quick read. As soon as I began this book, I said, "I am Lucy Sullivan...."

Dem

review to follow

Uci

Lucy, Lucy, Lucy....what can I say about Lucy?

Sejujurnya, hampir sepanjang buku ini saya membenci Lucy. Dan menyalahkan dia atas semua kesialan yang menimpanya, lha wong dia sendiri yang minta kok.

Coba simak kutipan berikut ini:
Aku tak dapat membayangkan ada hal yang lebih membosankan daripada berkencan dengan pria yang memiliki gaji tetap, pria yang berhati-hati dengan uangnya, pria yang tahu bagaimana cara hidup agar tidak lebih besar pasak daripada tiang. Aku menganggap ketidakstabilan keuangan adalah pembangkit selera. (hal. 177)

Nah, nggak heran kan kalau kemudian dia selalu mendapat masalah dengan pria? Yang dia pilih selalu pria-pria berengsek tukang mabuk, pengangguran, memoroti uangnya, dsb. dst. Parahnya lagi, dia kadang sadar kalau pilihan dia salah, tapi tetap saja melakoninya, malah mengusir pria-pria 'waras' yang jatuh hati padanya. Bahkan tidak sadar-sadar bahwa selama ini ada pria sempurna yang mendambakannya setengah mati. Damn you, Lucy!! Bagaimana saya bisa bersimpati coba?

Jadi bayangkan saja, selama membaca buku ini saya sering berdecak-decak tak sabar dan geleng-geleng melihat 'ketololan' Lucy. Belum lagi hobi mabuknya yang bikin gemas. Bagaimana mau berpikir jernih kalau tiap hari mabuk-mabukan? (Mamah Dedeh mode on) Tapi kayaknya itu memang sudah kebiasaan di sana ya, jadi saya nggak bisa protes. Ingat saja Bridget Jones yang hobi minum (Tapi saya jauuuh lebih cinta Bridget Jones). Dan Lucy itu pemalas, di kantor kerjanya cuma gosip dan duduk-duduk sambil menunggu jam pulang. Ya wajar lah kalau karirnya mentok (satu hal lagi yang menjadi 'kesialan' Lucy)

Pokoknya, dia itu kayak nggak berjuang untuk mendapatkan hidup yang lebih baik. Saya sampai berpikir jangan-jangan penulisnya membenci tokohnya sendiri, kok nggak ada bagus-bagusnya si Lucy ini :D Ya selain cantik seperti boneka sih.

Eh tapi penulisnya baik kok sama Lucy, buktinya dikasih ending yang bahagia banget hehehe. She is saved by...well, who else? The perfect man. Ini bukan spoiler lho, hampir semua (atau semua?) chicklit berakhir bahagia kan. Proses menuju bahagianya itu yang penting.

Jadi 2,5 bintang dari saya, karena meskipun mengomel panjang lebar, toh saya tetap membaca buku setebal 728 halaman ini dengan tekun tanpa melewatkan satu halaman pun. Blame the cheesy-romantic side of me :))

Kutipan:

Harapan, makhluk tolol yang plinplan itu, makhluk tukang menghamburkan emosi itu, kembali menjadi bintang tamu dalam kehidupanku.

Bergosip adalah sejenis McDonalds bagi jiwaku. Tergoda untuk melakukannya saat itu, tapi aku selalu akan merasa mual setelahnya. Dan lapar lagi setelah sepuluh menit.

Obsidian

So this ended up being one of the very first books that I bought on my Amazon Kindle when I was overseas. I don't know why but I manage to always read this book when I am feeling blue. Maybe it's because right now I am being hit over the head with the fact that my happily ever after may look totally different than my friends/family and I need to be okay with that. I loved books in this genre since just like with romance novels, you know that the girl is always going to get the guy in the end and that the villains for the most part will get their comeuppance.

Told in the first person, the main character is Lucy Sullivan. Lucy is in her twenties and lives with two roommates, Karen and Charlotte. We find out that Lucy has a contentious relationship with her mother, a loving one with her father, and an indifferent one with her two brothers. Things in Lucy's life seem to be going okay. She has a job she hates and works with people that seem annoying/tolerable depending on the day of the week. After being bullied into going with her colleagues to a psychic, Lucy is told that within a year she is going to meet the man she is going to marry. Readers get to hang on for a fun ride looking at Lucy's life and those around her for that full year.

I thought that the character of Lucy was aggravating at times. She suffers from depression, but one gets the sense that she really doesn't suffer from depression, she instead uses it to just not do things that she wants to. She is also very rude to a long time family friend, Daniel to the point I wondered about his intelligence since he kept on hanging out with her.

Eventually Lucy meets Gus who she finds herself falling madly in love with. At the same time it appears that several other people in Lucy's life are moving on with their own love lives.

The writing reads like a twenty plus year old with no clue about things. I think that Lucy's selfishness sometimes may get to certain readers. I just found myself cheering her on and unable to stop myself. I think the reason why is that halfway through the book changes gears from being a breezy romantic comedy, to an actual dramedy (comedy and drama combined) and you quickly realize that without realizing it, Lucy was a bit of an unreliable narrator.

The pacing is really good with this book and I was surprised at how fast I was getting through the chapters.

The ending was very sweet and I smiled to myself. I always wished that Marian Keyes would revisit the characters in this book and do a sequel with Lucy actually married to the guy she was destined to marry.

Marian Keyes has come out recently asking for people to not call her novels chick-lit. I guess I never saw that label as a bad thing, though I can see how some people would use that term to dismiss entire genres of books. I love this books and many of her other ones just because along with the romance aspect there is always still an underlining layer of depth and drama.

Bex

The title character of this book, Lucy Sullivan, is a 26-year old single Irish woman living in London. As the story opens, Lucy and 3 co-workers pay a visit to Mrs. Nolan, who is supposedly a "real" psychic. Initially, Lucy laughs off Mrs. Nolan's prediction that she will be married within the year (18 months at the outside), but when Mrs. Nolan's predictions seem to start coming true for her friends, she begins to wonder. When she meets Gus, an eccentric but fun partygoer, Lucy is almost certain that her fate has begun to change for the better.
What follows is a romantic comedy with substance, wit, and intellect. At 400+ pages, the book is more well-developed than you will find in most books of this genre, although there were more moments when the story dragged just a bit. Some of the supporting characters (eg, the gay friend) and the outcomes (eg, girl gets boy) were a bit familiar, but this did not detract from the fact that the details were both original and entertaining. I found myself reading almost the entire book one lazy Sunday, becoming so engaged in the story that I couldn't put it down until I had finished. This was definitely an enjoyable read, and I'm looking forward to checking out the author's other works.

María Paz Greene F

Me gustó ene, aunque se nota que es de los '90 porque qué maneras de hacer bromas trilladas sobre los gays y los gorditos.

Quitando eso, muy original dentro de su ámbito. Tiene su parte superficial y divertida, pero también otras que son MUY PROFUNDAS. No solo me hizo reír, sino que también llorar. Solo el tramo final es un poco fome porque pucha que se da vueltas, pero aún así el total lo disfruté bastante. Me gustó mucho que hubiera evolución en los personajes y que uno pudiera, además, aprender algo.

La protagonista solamente es un tanto odiosa a veces, pero... es dulce cuando uno la entiende.

Katie

Okay...if I could give negative stars on this book I totally would! This booked stunk from beginning to end. And let me tell you the book just goes on and on and on and won't die already. BOOO!

Takoneando entre libros

Creo que es la primera vez que califico tan bajo uno de los libros de esta autora.
No me ha gustado mucho y en este libro ha quedado más que patente un terrible problema con el alcohol de cierto sector de la sociedad que la autora frecuentaba (incluso de ella misma ya que casi todos tienen tientes autobiográficos). Pero este me ha parecido especialmente Triste ya que no hay ningún personaje que sea "normal" y no necesite emborracharse hasta vomitar como parte de su rutina diaria.

Emma

This is an easy read that I think is great for passing the time, but there isn't much substance to it. I'm a big fan of Marian Keyes work and am currently working my way through all of her books. I had really high hopes for this, as like I said, I'm a big fan of the author, but I found myself disappointed.

The plot is pretty straightforward; Lucy is told by a psychic that she will be married in a year. As Lucy is currently single she's cynical, but when the psychic's other predictions come true she begins to take it more seriously. The plot mainly consists of a love triangle with a pretty obvious outcome. This really affected my enjoyment of the book as I think love triangles only work when you have reasons to root for both of the competing men/women and can't predict who the main character will choose. However, it was obvious from the beginning who Lucy would end up with.

I also found it hard to connect with some of the characters; in particular Lucy and her love interest Gus. The main characters is Marian's books always tend to be quirky, awkward women who are really easy to relate too, but I found Lucy to be too much. Instead of being quirky it seemed like she has mental health issues. I felt the same about Gus, who we were obviously meant to find endearingly strange and unpredictable. I just found him irritating and didn't understand Lucy's interest in him. I think this will really depend on everyone's personal preferences, but there was nothing attractive to me about his personality at all. Again, this really affected my overall enjoyment.

There were positive aspects of the book too though. As always Marian's books deal with tough issues which I enjoy as they are always handled respectfully and the author always manages to keep the tone light hearted. The book was funny, Lucy's room mates and colleagues kept the book entertaining and were a lot more relatable than she was.

I think Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married would be the perfect book if you're looking for something lighthearted to read on your day off or to take on holiday, but it shouldn't be taken too seriously.

Title	:	Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married
Author	:	Marian Keyes
Rating	:
ISBN	:	0060090375
ISBN-10	:	9780060090371
Language	:	English
Format Type	:	Paperback
Number of Pages	:	640
Publication	:	First published January 1, 1996

Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married by Marian Keyes

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Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married Reviews

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