Mimi by Lucy Ellmann

Mimi by Lucy Ellmann
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Received this via the publishers in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.

I had a hard time getting into this book at first. It seemed like I was in for a book full of rambling rants from this plastic surgeon. Harrison is so melancholic that I wanted to smack him. He seriously needs a dose of sunshine.

And he gets it with Mimi. Mimi is a bright, vibrant spot in this man's bleak, unhappy life. He is so disenchanted with life and routine, he needs the chaos of Mimi. And she is the catalyst that opens his mind towards how he viewed women his entire life. His entire life is nothing BUT women: his sister, his horrid ex-lover Gertrude, his newly adopted cat, his mother, his other ex girlfriends, his plastic surgery patients, etc.

I liked the characters and how they complimented one another. I liked watching Harrison slowly unfurl. It felt like a slow release of tension. And I loved his 'revolution' inspired by Mimi, about taking away the societal repression of women. There are so many little underlying messages here that anyone can relate to. A solid 3.5/5 stars on the good read scale. Somewhere between "I liked it" and "I really liked it". I couldn't fully give it 4 stars because Harrison's ramblings annoyed me. While it demonstrated his melancholia and then his awakening self, sometimes I felt it just went on and on and on.

It was a bit surprising at first that the title is Mimi when she's really an ancillary to Harrison. With everything from Harrison's point of view, you figured it would be titled his name. But the more I think of it, the more appropriate it is. It's MIMI who changes Harrison and opens his eyes, Mimi who teaches him about passion (not sexual, but for life!), Mimi who has such a joie de vivre approach to everything.

I think we have all met the Gertrudes and Guses and Harrison pre-Mimi in our lives. We need to be open to more of the "crackpots" as Harrison calls Mimi in the beginning. The ones that are impassioned over the little things. The ones who change your life in a moment. As she said, she DID push him that Christmas Eve. :)

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The last two reviews (Dark Expectations and this one) have been written on Goodreads and then I've used their widget to copy and paste here. I like that! It gives you the links back to goodreads, too, so you can see what someone else is saying.

I've been reading quite a few books over the last couple days. Mimi was quite different from the genres I've been into lately. I enjoyed it! If you're interested in reading it, it comes out on February 26, 2013. You can pre-order it now on amazon.com!

Currently Listening: Big Girls by Mika
Currently Reading: Between Two Thorns by Emma Newman
Currently Watching: Downton Abbey on Netflix