Julie's Review: Second Chance

Summary: Green, author of chick-lit favorites Swapping Lives (2006) and The Other Woman (2005), explores the way one man's death affects the lives of his friends. Tom Fitzgerald, a Brit living in the States, is only 39 when he kisses his wife and children good-bye and boards a doomed train. In the wake of his death, his friends, some of whom haven't seen in each other in nearly two decades, come together to remember him. Despite one night of passion, Holly and Tom remained best friends, and she thinks she is content with her picture-perfect life despite a lack of love for her husband until she reconnects with Tom's charismatic, introspective younger brother. Olivia takes a chance on a man Tom set her up with shortly before he died. An actress in L.A., Saffron has fallen in love with one of Hollywood's sexiest stars, but she is growing tired of waiting for him to leave his loveless marriage. Paul and Anna couldn't love each other more, but her inability to conceive a child mars their happy marriage. Peopled with her trademark likable, sympathetic characters, Green's latest is sure to have wide appeal. ~Booklist

Review: I think that I've read almost all of Jane Green's books and have enjoyed everyone of them for various reasons. Second Chance isn't her best in my opinion but still a pretty decent read. I found that I did like all of the four main characters but I found it a little farfetched that they would resume deep, meaningful friendships after 20 years of sporadic contact. On the flip side of that I find that to be refreshing that they could resume their friendships even after a long lapse in time. Nothing like a tragedy to bring people together unfortunately and to cause them to examine their own lives. I found Saffron to be a sterotypical Hollywood actress and found some of the plot about Hollywood to be cliche. My favorite transformation of the group was Holly. From being someone she's not to coming into her own and realizing who she is. I did think throughout the book that her husband was cheating on her but it turns out he was just a jerk.

If you haven't read Jane Green before I recommend either The Other Woman or To Have and To Hold: A Novel before I'd tell you to read Second Chances. The book was a good read but it didn't stir any deep emotions in me and while I liked Holly I just wanted her to wake up at some points. The rest of the characters were good but 2 dimensional.

Final Take: 3.75/5