Sushi for Beginners

After reading "Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married," I immediately ran to the store and bought "Rachel's Holiday." I fell so in love with Keyes writing that I literally had to force myself not to read all her book's in a row so that I would have something to look forward to...
Having been very bored and disappointed with "Angels," I was thrilled with the return of Keyes' unique style in "Sushi for Beginners." Fun, charming and witty. Still not my favorite of all her books, but wonderful all the same.

Yes, this book is quite lengthy, but WORTH IT! This book is about finding happiness. The trials and tribulations of being single to trusting people (that perhaps shouldn't be trusted)to dealing with your boss, parents, friends, etc. to always being prepared in life. This was my first Marian Keyes novel and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I went out and bought "Angels" and I discovered on my bookshelf that I have a paperback copy of "Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married". I find her similar to Jane Green and I highly recommend!

Sometimes I am a bit apprehensive about reading Marian Keyes books - they are so big! But they do not disappoint! Sushi for Beginners is a great novel - a great summer read. Join gals Lisa, Ashling, and Clodagh in Ireland at work and at play. I found this to be excellently written and it had an interesting technique with the prologue and the three girls - read the book and you'll see what I mean!

"What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure."
(Samuel Johnson).

Going through this book, I got the impression that Marian Keyes was fulfilling a contract with her publisher to produce a 'novel' that had to be in the bookstores by a certain date. So basically she got up in the morning and pounded away at her keyboard to string together a bunch of words, without heed to plot, characters, insight, or style. The result is a desultory ramble of nonsense. The reader is left feeling ripped off of hard earned money and precious time. I would avoid this book at all costs!

This is my first experience reading Marian Keyes. The book did start out slow. The character development was much better in the second half of the book. There were a couple of times when I couldn't put it down and I did enjoy it, over all but, it was nothing to rave about. I will read another Marian Keyes book and hope for better.

Although this isn't my favorite Marian Keyes book, it was an absolute joy to read and remains in the top 10 of my all-time favorite books along with most of her others. It is a delightful British romantic comedy that would make a great movie in my humble opinion. If you appreciate and enjoy british humor (along the lines of Bridget Jones Diary), you will LOVE Marian Keyes' style of writing in general. All of her characters are funny, engaging and relatable in some way, with my only complaint being the fact that once I pick one of her books up, it takes over my life and I can't put it down until I'm on the last page. Marian Keyes is one of the best (if not THE best) writers of her genre.

Although I enjoyed the first Marian Keyes novel I read (the other side of the story) I was a little dissapointed to discover that whilst this book is written with as much skill and passion as "other side..." it seems to follow a similar outline to it: 3 women, all with similar situations to this book. Ashling has problems which stem from her mother (Gemma), Lisa is a sucessful high flyer (Jojo) and Clogagh has a picture perfect life but feels worthless on the inside (Lily). It addresses issues such as adultery, divorce, depression and many more, but all which are addressed in her other books.

I love your style Marian, but give us something new and different! Show us versatility that only good authors can provide!

I have read several Marian Keyes books, and I have to say that I think this is her best one. Her writing has progressed over several novels, and while I really liked her earlier books, I think this one has better character development and dialogue. Our heroine, Ashling, is a charming character, and she is totally believable in her romantic woes. I also thought Jack, her lead male character, was really well developed in this novel too--a bit of a Mr. Darcy type! I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a light, well-written romantic comedy.

I have absolutely LOVED this book! It started with too many details and was kind of confusing at the beginning but once that passed, I could not stop turning the pages! Written in a very interesting and fun way, this book is full of humor yet very realistic. I was actually disappointed when I finished.

I TRIED MARIAN KEYES BASED UPON A RECOMMENDATION. THIS WAS JUST AS BORING AS 'LAST CHANCE SALOON'. I COULDN'T BRING MYSELF TO FINISH EITHER OF THESE BOOKS. THE CHARACTERS ARE ALL SO ANNOYING, YOU DON'T GET ATTACHED TO ANYONE & THEY AREN'T BOOKS YOU CAN'T WAIT TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. I JUST CAN'T BELIEVE ALL THE GLOWING REVIEWS, THESE BOOKS ARE SO BORING.

These women stay with you; they become timeless. I loved it!

Ashling is so sweet and out of it; she makes for a great romantic.

Lisa, on the other hand, so sharp yet warm, you gotta love her.

Spicy and hot. Like wasabe and sake over a nice chat.

I have read several of Marian Keyes' other books and really liked them. This one, however, was such a drag I couldn't even finish it. The characters seemed too unreal to me and the storyline was very slow. Try one of her other books instead.

I have read several of Marian Keyes' other books and really liked them. This one, however, was such a drag I couldn't even finish it. The characters seemed too unreal to me and the storyline was very slow. Try one of her other books instead.

I read this book by the poolside during a vacation and it was ok material for that scenario, but I've read better. There's a lot of good fluff vacation reading and this would not be in that category. I didn't become involved in any of the characters enough to care what happened to them. Their personalities kept changing and it just felt like a mishmash of ideas of the writer rather than well developed fluff. I recommened The Devil Wears Prada over this book.

I love Marian Keyes books. They are thought-provoking and intelligent and funny. In this story there are three very good female characters and I enjoyed reading about all of their lives. I wouldn't recommend you to read this first if you're not already a Keyes fan. I would probably recommend 'Watermelon' or 'Lucy Sullivan is getting married' which are her earlier works. But if you're a die-hard fan like me you'll love this one too!

Funny, engaging, hard hitting. You'll end up liking even the most unlikable person . . . read this if you want to laugh a lot on a transatlantic flight. I promise you won't be thinking about your bum falling asleep in pins and needles. :-)

This book was alright...definitely wasn't the best I've read. This was actually the first Marian Keyes that I've read. The only interesting story/plotline in my opinion was the one that revolved around Ashling. Lisa was too annoying and Clodagh was someone you hated more and more. I recommend this to people 14 years or older because of a lot of swearing and some sexual content.

The book started off slow and remained that way until maybe the last 100 pages of the book. I thought the book could've been much shorter and still kept the gist of it. I didn't really care for the characters in the beginning, but there were many surprising turns later on that kept me interested till the end.

while lucy sullivan is getting married remains my favorite keyes book, i really enjoyed sushi. her writing makes me feel i am IN dublin (i have a lot of family in ireland) and i enjoyed the entire story...enjoy!

Sushi for beginners was good, but I definitely preferred Rachel's Holiday, Angels, and The Other Side of the Story. Still, you can't go wrong with Marian Keyes. Her books are always entertaining, and her characters are always interesting.

I disagree with the other reviewer completely.
I appreciated the backgrounds detailed for the main characters. I really enjoyed this my first Marian Keyes novel, and would easily purchase a sequel. I have just ordered Rachel's Holiday too.

What did Marian Keyes do before writing "novels"? Encyclopedias? Not only was it completely lacking in prose or any kind of voice, the story and characters were dull, plain, unimaginative, et cetera. Like when Tim or whatever his name is (again, unmemorable characters) in the comedy club, everyone's comments seem sarcastic (like, "your boyfriend's sooo hilarious") and then everyone's worshiping what's-his-name! It makes no sense! A lesson to know for next time: do not buy a book without any reviews on the back.

I could not pass page 50. The caracters, the dialogues are shallow and the story makes no sense. The book portrays women who have very low self-esteem, and do not respect themselves.
By the way, I throwed it in the trash!

What did Marian Keyes do before writing "novels"? Encyclopedias? Not only was it completely lacking in prose or any kind of voice, the story and characters were dull, plain, unimaginative, et cetera. Like when Tim or whatever his name is (again, unmemorable characters) in the comedy club, everyone's comments seem sarcastic (like, "your boyfriend's sooo hilarious") and then everyone's worshiping what's-his-name! It makes no sense! A lesson to know for next time: do not buy a book without any reviews on the back.