Abbie Jennings loves her job as Manhattan’s top food critic- until her identity is revealed and her unflattering picture with ever-expanding waistline is splashed across the newspapers. She becomes the joke of the town as the overweight food lover, and promptly loses her job at the New York Post since she can no longer go incognito to restaurants. Abbie takes this opportunity to finally go on that diet and shed some pounds, but struggles with motivation and the reasoning behind her relationship with food. To add to Abbie’s problems, she is going through a difficult time with her husband, who is trying to persuade her to leave the city and finally start a family. It takes the guidance of an unusual friend to finally help Abbie see what she really wants out of life.
Slim to None by Jenny Gardiner is a good story. I didn’t get real invested in the main character, and some off the story lines seemed just a bit off for me. I did like the plot, and the descriptions of some of the delectable dishes made me start eating while reading, but it just wasn’t enough. Sometimes, Abbie’s character came off as incredibly selfish, never really listening to her husband and continually doing things the way she wanted. There is also a best friend in the story, who I never could quite figure out what she was doing there. She popped up at random times, and during most of the meat of the story, she wasn’t mentioned at all, only to return once again at the end. I found myself confused throughout the duration, as the writing was a bit all over the place and jumping from scene to scene without any real fluidity. Like I said earlier, I did like the story, I thought it was interesting though not necessarily unique, and I believe some good life lessons can be taken away from the main character’s troubles. Slim to None won’t be on my Favorites List, but I think some other chick lit lovers will be able to appreciate this story.
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Rating: 3/5
