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Book Review – FALL GIRL by Toni Jordan

Saturday, April 23rd, 2011

Fall Girl Synopsis

Remember the rules. Rule one is easy. Never ask for money. Since she was a child, Della Gilmore has been taught how to con people. Today she’s attempting to pull off the biggest coup of her career. Her family is depending on her. It all looks good on paper. With a pair of glasses and a sheaf of impressive papers she’s: Ella Canfield, a highly qualified evolutionary biologist seeking funding for an unorthodox research project. And her mark is: Daniel Metcalf, a handsome millionaire who donates money to offbeat scientific projects. What could go wrong? The problem is Della has never met someone like Daniel before. She knows he shouldn’t trust her. But can she trust him? As the plan begins to unravel and Della finds her feelings interfering with the job, she begins to wonder if you can put a price on deceit and love. (The Book Depository)

Book Review

I really enjoyed Australian author Toni Jordan’s debut novel Addition because of its quirkiness and refreshing approach to chick lit (read my review), and so I eagerly awaited the publication of her second novel.

In Fall Girl Toni Jordan has created an interesting premise and quirky characters for the reader to be engaged and surprised by.

The protagonist Della and her motley family of con-artists take the reader on a farcical journey featuring many laugh out loud moments. The characters are what make this novel an enjoyable read, rather than the storyline which in all honesty was nowhere near as strong as her debut novel.

While Della infuriated me at times, my favourite character was Julius, adopted as a baby from Nigeria by Della’s aunt and uncle. His garnering sympathy from marks by regaling them with tales of of his childhood walking miles to get water from a well was brilliant. Such tales were made all the more entertaining by narrator Caroline Lee’s characterisation in the audio version of Fall Girl (listen to an audio sample).

Toni Jordan is great at developing characters, writing dialogue and finding amusement in dark situations. Fall Girl was a fun read (‘listen’) but I think the potential for growth in the protagonist was not fully capitalised on.

BOOK RATING: The Story 3 / 5 ; The Writing 4 / 5

BOOK DETAILS: Fall Girl (Audible) ; Fall Girl (Book Depository)

Genre: Drama, Romance, Mystery, Chick Lit

Author Information: Australian Toni Jordan was a self-professed science nerd, gaining a Bachelor’s Degree in Science and working as a research assistant, molecular biologist and quality control chemist before at the age of 38 changing her career path and beginning professional writing full time in 2004. Fall Girl is her second novel. See Toni Jordan’s website for further information on her publications and life experiences.

- Toni Jordan’s debut novel Addition is being made into a movie

- An interview with Toni Jordan by Lisa Wardle

Other Reviews of Fall Girl by Toni Jordan : ANZ Lit Lovers ; Bookie Monster ; BookBath

This review counts towards my participation in the 2011 Aussie Author Challenge.

Tags: 3.5+ Stars, JORDAN Toni

Posted in Audio, Aussie Author, Chick Lit, Humour, Mystery, Romance | No Comments »

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Book Review – ADDITION by Toni Jordan

Friday, June 25th, 2010

BOOK RATING: The Story 4 / 5 ; The Writing 4 / 5

BOOK DETAILS:
Addition (Audible),
Addition (The Book Depository),
Addition (Amazon)

BOOK REVIEW: Quirky. In her debut novel Addition, author Toni Jordan presents enjoyable women’s fiction melded with an exploration of obsession and compulsion.

Narrator and protagonist Grace Lisa Vandenburg is a single woman in her thirties who has a peculiar appreciation of numbers. She believes it is numbers that hold the world together and that if she stops counting, her world and the worlds of the people she loves will fall apart. Her obsessive compulsive behaviour is to such an extreme that she counts the number of bristles on her toothbrush and has a formula for the number of bites she must take when eating a piece of food. The reader is introduced to Grace at a point in her life when her obsession has become debilitating in the eyes of the broader community, leaving her unable to hold down a job and living as a recluse.

Where is the enjoyable women’s fiction read amongst this sad state of affairs you might ask? First of all, Grace herself does not believe she is the one that has a problem and she is forthright in expressing her confidence in the value of her beliefs. Then, enter from stage left the quintessential love interest Seamus Joseph O’Reilly. What ensues is a battle of sorts in the mind of Grace – a battle between her love of numbers and her love for Seamus.

This novel does not necessarily fit in the dark humour genre, but as a reader I was at times thrown off guard by the humour gained from the protagonist’s thoughts and behaviour that were fuelled by her obsessive compulsive disorder. But I enjoy a novel that keeps me on my toes, and that certainly made it an enjoyable audio book to listen to (narration by Caroline Lee). Jordan has boldly presented a different slant on mental illness and poses the question, at what point does uniqueness become an illness? At the same time, this dark exploration is wrapped up in what is essentially a very sweet love story that explores the classic questions of how much must one compromise ones individuality to form a lasting relationship and can the benefits of a relationship outweigh the independence lost?

Australian author Toni Jordan came to writing later in life. Jordan first gained a Bachelor’s Degree in Science and worked as a research assistant, molecular biologist and quality control chemist before at the age of 38 changing her career path and beginning to professional writing full time in 2004. Her first novel Addition has been published in Australia, the United Kingdom and The Netherlands. She has also written articles for newspapers The Guardian, The Courier-Mail and The Age.