Book Review: Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner

Book Review: Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner

Publisher: Atria Books

I enjoyed this book even though I have mixed feelings about it. Cannie Shapiro is a 28 year old woman with great friends, a job she loves, and a loving dog. She also happens to be plus sized. This part of the book pleased me because I happen to be plus sized as well. Cannie seems to be perfectly happy with her plus sized status until her ex-boyfriend writes an article about her in a national magazine. She’s embarrassed but it isn’t until later that she realizes that the article, while a little harsh, also had insights into her life that she didn’t even know that he had noticed.

I peeked at a few other reviews of this book and saw that one of the common complaints is that Cannie is too whiny about her life and being fat. While it does seem to go overboard at times a lot of her self doubts and inner commentary are common thoughts among unhappy plus size women. Unfortunately the “no one loves me because I am fat” mantra that some of us tell ourselves happens a lot. So while I feel that it was a little excessive at times I also nodded my head because there were times when I was in that mindset.

When Cannie is having a good day she is witty and sarcastic and funny. I laughed at loud when she threw a box of tampons at her ex-boyfriend’s head. She makes bad choices and ends up pregnant with the ex-boyfriend’s baby, which is a realistic occurrence. Then Cannie meets up with a movie star named Maxi who is almost like a fairy godmother. She arranges for Cannie to visit in California and pitch her script to an agent who immediately hands Cannie a check for a LOT of money. These are the unrealistic parts. It took me a little bit out of the story because while this would be a good scene in a movie, I cannot see things happening that quickly in real life.

After a show down with the cold, uncaring father that abandoned her and her family when she was a child Cannie seems to finally start developing a stronger backbone. This crumbles to pieces after an encounter in which she almost loses her baby and sinks into a deep depression. She loses weight drastically and is finally the thin she always wanted to be and is still unhappy.

She finally wakes up and starts to take care of herself. She gains some weight back and is finally able to see that she should have been happy with herself all along. This made me smile a bit because she was finally a happier, nicer person.

One of the elements that bothered me about this book was how nasty and unaccepting Cannie was to her mother for being a lesbian. I don’t have a basis for this in my own family but I understand that if you are not happy with someone else’s life choices it doesn’t matter. It is their life. There is no resolution to Cannie’s anger at her mother for becoming a lesbian. There is no acceptance of her mother’s partner. I usually can’t stand books that tie everything up in a neat little bow at the end but I really feel that not having Cannie at least accept that her mother was happy and she wouldn’t be able to change her mother’s mind would have been a decent resolution.

Despite the few issues I had with this book I did enjoy it. The characters are complex and flawed. There is a lot of humor in the story as well as some heartache. I would definitely read it again.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.