The general concensus was that it sucked. It was too bitter, too full of complaints, and there were no attempts to break free until the very end. We could muster no sympathy for the protagonist, and the antagonist was simply too over-the-top extremely evil. None of us could relate to her plight, although we did recount horror stories about bad bosses that we've had in the past, such as the supervisor who spent 10 minutes explaining how to place a stamp on a stamp pad or the executive who tried to deny giving someone permission to attend their sister's wedding.
Worst of all, there was no plot. It was like one long diary entry, and not a very good one at that. If this book were a friend we had taken out for coffee and told us everything that happened as it did in the book, she'd better not bring it up ever again or we'd get up and walk away.
I felt stressed out reading this book. I finished it last Thursday, on the train home from Toronto, and felt overwhelmed. I'd had a good day, but felt that if anyone asked me to do anything, I'd completely snap at them because they were being unreasonable. Certainly, this is not a good book to read if you want to read something light and fluffy.
And, so now on to the results. This is how things went down:
Other / Stargirl: 1 vote each (1% each)
Violet & Claire: 2 votes (3%)
The Thief Lord: 3 votes (4%)
A Cook's Tour / Deafening: 10 votes each (14% each)
Happiness(tm): 13 votes (19%)
The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants: 29 votes (42%)
Thanks to everyone who voted.
