Jenny Colgan - West End Girls

After a fairly dark, twisted film, I decided to read something light and fluffy to distract me and lighten the mood and what better to do that with than a chick-lit novel which was also at the top of my pile.

West End Girls is a chick-lit romantic comedy book by Jenny Colgan, an author I like to read every so often as her books are generally light-hearted.  While they are not my all-time favourite books, I like to reread Colgan's books as well as books from other authors like her when I'm feeling down or ill or I'm on holiday because they make me smile in the end.

Rating: 3

Recommended To: Those with a need for a holiday read

Favourite Characters: Will - far more interesting than Penny and Lizzie

Favourite Part: 'I want you,' said Penny, 'to shoot me before I ever have to come to one of these places.'
'OK,' said Lizzie.
'You're not meant to say that!' said Penny in despair.  'You're meant to say, "Don't be daft, how would you ever end up in one of these places?  You'll be surrounded by family and friends and grandchildren before you painlessly slip off in your sleep like that old lady in Titanic."' - Page 258

Good Points: Girls complete opposites; met expectations

Bad Points: Penny and Lizzie were both unlikeable; nothing exciting or striking about this book

West End Girls is about two sisters, twins, Penny and Lizzie who live with their mother in Essex but they both long for something different, especially Penny, the outgoing twin.  The twins then receive a letter from their paternal grandmother who asks them to house-sit her home in Chelsea while she is in hospital and both girls take advantage of the opportunity to live in London, living and working in this busy city, meeting people they would never have met in their little town.

Before I start to talk about what I didn't find enjoyable about this book, I will talk about what I liked and one part I did like was how Colgan made Penny and Lizzie complete opposites - Penny, an overconfident young woman who thinks she's God's gift to humanity but is little more than a good looking woman and wants an easy life and flirts with every man she sees, and Lizzie, a shy young woman who is happy to work for a living and wouldn't know a man was flirting with her or interested her without a big neon sign.  This contrast of characters provided conflict between the girls and was the main reason I continued to read West End Girls.

I try to go into every book I read with an open mind because then I don't compare every book with another but sometimes, I do go in with some expectations even if they are minor.  When I read chick-lot books, like West End Girls, I expect it to be light and fluffy so it doesn't tax my brain too much with an overcomplicated plot and West End Girls delivers on this.  Both girls start out unhappy with their lives and go on a journey of self-discovery through West End Girls typical of the chick-lit genre.  After reading some books and watching some films recently that have been quite overwhelming in a way, reading West End Girls has been a good break from such things.

Will is by far the most interesting character out of the West End Girls line-up, especially Penny and Lizzie, because he had more depth than them both put together in my opinion; his character seemed to develop more because we learnt more about him over the course of the book and his true nature was revealed.  From this, it was more obvious that there was more to him than it seemed which is more than can be said about Penny and Lizzie who were just superficial characters that the reader followed.

I don't know how Colgan did it but she made nearly every character unlikeable and boring, particularly Penny and Lizzie which is bad considering they are the main characters.  Penny was completely self-centred, judged everyone one (including her sister and mum) on their looks, jobs, and money (or lack thereof), and so tacky it made me hate her.  Lizzie was no better; she whined all of the time, she was so self-conscious it was irritating because became self-deprecating, even when she lost the weight that made me self-conscious.  Both sisters lacked depth and only developed slightly over the course of the book which made Penny more likeable because she wasn't judging everyone as much.  Even for a genre I have little expectation other than a fluffy romance, these characters were awful because they had little to them which made them uninteresting and unappealing.  On this point alone, avoid this book and read a different Colgan book if you want, I wish I had.

Although I went into this book with low expectations story-wise because it is a child-lit book and sometimes they follow the same paths as others - girl meets boy, they fall in love, a couple of twists, the end.  When I read West End Girls, I was completely let down because nothing striking or exciting happens; even a fire which could have brought some drama to the piece fizzled out quickly.  I confess, I basically skimmed through this book over a few days on my lunch break so maybe I missed something but I seem to be one of many who were let down by West End Girls.

'I want you,' said Penny, 'to shoot me before I ever have to come to one of these places.'
'OK,' said Lizzie.
'You're not meant to say that!' said Penny in despair.  'You're meant to say, "Don't be daft, how would you ever end up in one of these places?  You'll be surrounded by family and friends and grandchildren before you painlessly slip off in your sleep like that old lady in Titanic."' - Page 258

I loved the humour in this part because I would say the exact thing as Penny if someone were to say 'OK' to me because of my tendency to be overdramatic at times and babble random rubbish in jest.  While I identified with Penny at this point, I also identified with Lizzie because I would jokingly agree to shoot someone if they asked me as would most people I know because it's very much the British sense of humour, to be mean to those that we are close to.  However, this was the only memorable part for me because the rest of the book didn't really make me laugh like this part; I may have giggled a little at something but all in all, it wasn't really worth my time reading West End Girls and I wish I had read other books instead.

I do enjoy chick-lit because it brings some variety to my other darker, more intense books but this time around, even though I was expecting something similar, it was too light and fluffy, lacking any depth at all with nothing exciting truly occurring and could be shortened easily.  The main characters were puddle-deep, lacking any true development over the course of the book and the love interest of one sister was the only character that appealed to me because he had some mystery about him and developed through his meeting Penny.  Overall, like with most chick-lit books I read, I would have recommended this as a holiday read but it isn't enjoyable really so it isn't worth your time reading it my opinion.

Other Books by Jenny Colgan