Definitely not in the same league as Bridget Jones' Diary, but fun as a literary bon-bon (empty calories & really not good for you, but fun).

Increíblemente aburrido, La imaginación descontrolada de Olivia Joules, es una de esas lecturas ligeras que pretende entretener y solo consigue arrastrarte al tedio más absoluto, gracias a una trama disparatada que empeora por momentos, haciendo insoportable su lectura.

La autora, Helen Fielding es célebre por escribir El diario de Bridget Jones. Confieso que, aunque la conozco, no había leído nunca nada suyo. Pero no me ha defraudado. Puesto que no esperaba nada, no me he sorprendido cuando no he obtenido nada al leer esto. Pero, literariamente hablando, hay que resaltar que Fielding solo llega al nivel de apto por los pelos. Tiene un estilo funcional y dinámico, con una prosa mediocre, gracias a un lenguaje de lo más insulso, a unas descripciones que casi brillan por su ausencia, y una protagonista que resulta el colmo de lo superficial y vacío. Su falta de profesionalidad, su superficialidad y sus delirantes historias, fastidian profundamente.

No hace falta ser muy listo para saber que si un libro se titula, la imaginación descontrolada de Olivia Joules, nos vamos a encontrar con una comedia de enredos donde las suposiciones, la curiosidad y (por supuesto) la imaginación hiperactiva del personaje principal, van ser el motor de la historia. Y así es. Ya que el libro nos narra cómo Olivia Joules, periodista freelance que trabaja para varios medios, cuyo principal defecto es una imaginación desbordante, se encuentra de repente en medio de una trama que implica terroristas, actores de Hollywood, agentes muy sexys del FBI además de diversos espías. Claro que todo esto pude ser real o simples deducciones fantásticas de Joules. Lo que si es cierto es que, aunque empiezas con muchas ganas su lectura, según avanzas se vuelve previsible y un tanto absurda. De tal modo que el final, que la autora ha alargado demasiado en mi opinión, resulta burdo y predecible, con happy ending incluido.

En suma, La imaginación descontrolada de Olivia Joules, es una novela más del sobre saturado (e infumable) género del Chick-lit. Resulta totalmente prescindible, pero como se lee con mucha facilidad y tiene algún golpe de humor memorable, se convierte en una novela magnífica para leer durante el verano.

So I think I bought this because I remembered enjoying Bridget Jones' Diary , but upon checking my review, I didn't like that book much either.

Ok, here we go. My review of what might possibly be the stupidest book I've ever read. Where do we start?

1. Olivia - If you thought Bridget Jones was an unflattering, misogynistic portrayal of women, Olivia will blow you out of the water. SO MUCH TIME devoted to her being good looking, worrying about her figure etc. But the girl is dumber than a bag of rocks. Oh my god. Did you know that actions have consequences?? Olivia doesn't! Also, somehow, despite being a total idiot and not understanding anything in the world, Olivia is an accomplished journalist who speaks multiple languages...
2. Racism, racism, racism - This book was written in 2003, and has aged badly, but there are things that would have been inappropriate, even back then.  Like do we really need to make the middle eastern man a member of al-Quaeda? Originally, when Olivia suspected that he was a terrorist, she scolded herself and said that she was being racist. I thought this might be an ok sign, since we were acknowledging that assuming Muslim men are terrorists is bad, but nope, turns out he was a terrorist the whole time. Even the one other mentioned POC character is also a terrorist. Nice job. . Also, people can speak French and also Arabic?
3.  The MI6 plot. All of it. If you just call up the FBI/M16/CIA and tell them you think someone is a terrorist, they're not going to bring you into their ranks. Sorry. Even if they wanted to, as soon as you opened your mouth to reveal you were as stupid as Olivia, you would be asked to leave.  This plot line was SO STUPID I couldn't even believe it got published

Finally, there were just too many things that made 0 sense. For an author that talked about 9/11 so much, apparently Fielding never made it onto at any point, because no way could you bring a RAZOR BLADE and PEPPER SPRAY in your carryon after 2001.

I'm just mad that this book was so bad.

this was another find in the cruise ship library, and it was one of the two I liked the most (the other was The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende.) This is definitely chick lit, with a sarcastic bite and a unique look at the world. Fielding's spoof of James Bond worked well for me -- I thought the characters were ultimately believable.

Light thriller, with great twists.
Olivia Joules either has an overactive imagination, or she is in danger.
The journalist turns female Bond/ grown up Nancy Drew, enjoying travel, survival skills, thrills & trying to work out who (if anyone) can be trusted.
And yet I could relate to the character from the 6 reasons she likes hotels, packing strategies,being accident prone, reflections on life to her 14 rules of living:
1.Never panic. Stop, breath, think
2.No one is thinking about you. They're thinking about themselves (to counteract social nerves)
3.Never change haircut or colour before an important event
4.Nothing is either as bad or as good as it seems
5.Do as you would be done by
6.It is better to buy one expensive thing that you really like than several cheap ones that you only quite like
7.Hardly anything matters; if you get upset, ask yourself "does it really matter?"
8.The key to success lies in how you pick yourself up from failure
9.Be honest & kind
10.Only buy clothes that make you feel like doing a small dance
11.Trust your instincts, not your overactive imagination
12.When overwhelmed by disaster, check if it's really a disaster by doing the following:
a) think, "Oh !@#$%^&* it"
b) look on the bright side and if that doesn't work, look on the funny side
if neither of the above work, then maybe it is a disaster so turn to items 1 & 5
13.Don't expect the world to be safe, or life to be fair
14.Sometimes you just have to go with the flow

Wow - that was AWESOME!
I finally got a book with an interesting female main character who is just enough ditzy and just enough smart to be entertaining.
There's everything in that plot - hot guys, mysterious strangers, fashion, journalism, travel, adventure, just enough romance, just enough of a scare, underwater world, beaches, terrorists. How did Helen Fielding ever manager to mix all of that together and not be cheesy?
I kept guessing and missing how the plot will evolve throughout entire book (isn't it the best?)

Loved it!

Or: Bridget Jones, Secret Agent.

While I never hopped aboard the Bridge Jones bandwagon (other than the first film), the blurb about this book intrigued me.

There’s an interesting idea here about a journalist with an overactive imagination and a tendency to jump to conclusions combined with a desire to make a name for herself. When she keeps observing things that seem to indicate a terrorist plot (30 Rock did a great spin on this concept early in their run), she ditches writing a fluff piece to go after the potentially bigger story.

The tension between reality and assumption, however, is never developed. There are a few jokes made about Olivia’s overactive imagination, but it’s otherwise obvious she isn’t imagining things and something sinister is indeed going on.

That’s the problem with the book in a nutshell: it throws out a lot of ideas but then turns around five pages later and changes those ideas around to fit the next plot point. For a thriller, even a comedic one, there’s a surprising lack of tension.

Nowhere is this more apparent than Olivia, who has no consistency of character. I think she’s supposed to be a bit of a fantasy everywoman, but I mostly found her annoying. She’s unexpectedly an expert scuba diver when the plot requires it! But her personal life is also kind of a mess! She resents working the fashion beat despite being barely employed and wearing designer togs.

Despite its many problems, the book is entertaining enough for a mindless read. For maximum entertainment, though, make sure to sedate your brain before cracking open the book. Quasi-recommended.

I remember reading a snarky review of this when it first came out, and I see that the average rating here at Goodreads isn’t all that high. Maybe those who dislike it are comparing it unfavourably with Bridget Jones’s Diary, which I know is very popular. I still haven’t read Bridget, and I thought I would start with Olivia and judge it on its own merits, because a friend highly recommended Olivia to me. I liked it. It’s a fun, entertaining read. Olivia is a fun character-—part plucky reporter, part budding spy, part melodramatic schoolgirl. I loved her little survival kit.
A quibble: I thought Scott sounded almost like Austin Powers when he started saying “baby” in almost every sentence; and Scott did not strike me as an Austin Powers type.
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the TV shows Alias and Chuck. Fans of Elizabeth Peter’s Amelia Peabody might also give it a try (Amelia would approve of Olivia’s clever use of a hatpin).

Jucausa

This was an interesting read that took me on a bit of a roller coaster of opinions. At first it felt a lot like Bridget Jones, which I didn’t like because I was hoping for something different. But then things picked up and got super interesting. I went on my own little adventure right along with Olivia, and had a lot of fun with it!
For the most part, I was pretty impressed with the plotline and reveals. Usually I find I’m able to figure things out long before they’re revealed to the reader, which makes it less exciting when we get there. That wasn’t the case here! Every time I thought I had things figured out, there was a reveal and I was proven wrong. It might sound weird, but I love that!
I also enjoyed the fact that the book was tied so much to current events (9/11 and terrorism in general). In a world where the characters are sometimes unbelievable, tying it into events that I have actually seen myself keeps everything firmly rooted in the realm of realism. But that may just be for me... One thing I’ve learned over my own writing “career” (I’m not published, but love writing) is that it can be dangerous to include events like these because they quickly become dated. So it’s a risky move, but it worked for me.
The ending was a wee bit of a letdown, though. While it was still exciting and fun, it was something I’d seen before (Miss Congeniality comes to mind...) I just found myself wanting... more. I was actually hoping there might be a sequel to show what happens next, but it appears there isn’t one. At least, not yet... Here’s hoping – there’s still time!

Read pre-G/R

Ok, I was desperate for entertainment on the long commute and picked up the audio book of this from my neighborhood library. Sadly, I would rather endure road rage than listen to this drivel. It was that bad. Really.