Book Review: THE SECRET LIFE OF PRINCE CHARMING

Author: Deb Caletti
Number of Pages: 352
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: April 7, 2009

"Quinn is surrounded by women who have had their hearts broken. Between her mother, her aunt, and her grandmother, Quinn hears nothing but cautionary tales. She tries to be an optimist -- after all, she's the dependable one, the girl who never makes foolish choices. But when she is abruptly and unceremoniously dumped, Quinn starts to think maybe there really are no good men.
It doesn't help that she's gingerly handling a renewed relationship with her formerly absent father. He's a little bit of a lot of things: charming, selfish, eccentric, lazy...but he's her dad, and Quinn's just happy to have him around again. Until she realizes how horribly he's treated the many women in his life, how he's stolen more than just their hearts. Determined to, for once, take action in her life, Quinn joins forces with the half sister she's never met and the little sister she'll do anything to protect. Together, they set out to right her father's wrongs...and in doing so, begin to uncover what they're really looking for: the truth."
                                                                                              - Goodreads.com

I've read many books by Deb Caletti, and this one was pretty good. I like how all of the characters have a lot of depth to them, and how there's always more than one story going on while the main plot progresses. I think the idea of what Quinn's dad did is odd, but it is original and therefore really sparked my interest most of the way through. Some parts dragged on a bit and were less exciting than other parts, but overall it was quite good.

Another thing I really liked about this novel was how all of the female characters would give excerpts at random times about their past love experiences. It added a lot more "oomph" to the story, and towards the end you realized some connections between many of the women. Some of the stories of the older women were pretty funny, and actually had me laughing out loud. Deb Caletti's writing is so detailed and real that it makes you believe, if only for a moment, that Quinn's mother and grandmother and aunt are all real women, and that there experiences are ones that actually happened in the actual world. And then you look up from the book and remember that the stories are just words on a page, words that have the power to change the way you think. That's the way I look at it, anyways.

Overall, this book was great, but not as good as some of Deb Caletti's other books.

My Rating: :0) :0) :0) :0) 4 out of 5 smileys

Would I recommend it to a friend?: Yes!

Yours,
NutFreeNerd