Karma - Holly A. Harvey

[Purple Poppy]

Karma, by Holly A. Harvey.

 

I managed to get a copy of Kerri's (Blossom) book Karma from Amazon. I like chick Lit, but I wouldn't count myself as a huge fan. Like many people, I have questioned why the heroines are always rich and wealthy, flaunting their life style of exotic holidays and designer label clothes, to those of us whose lives are more mundane. It becomes a bit irksome after a while, and you find yourself wishing that a book will feature a REAL person!

 

Well, look no further. Karma is about Paige, a twenty eight year old, whose life appears to be in complete disarray, with debts, dud jobs, no social scene to speak of and no boyfriend. She lives with her adorable dog (who, as dogs world wide is loyalty personified) and she spends much of her free time sleeping.

 

Gradually, as a response to an invitation to her schools re-union, Paige relates some of her history, the people who betrayed her trust and how as a consequence she has become a doormat, as she sees it. Then, she decides to take matters into her own hands and give Karma a bit of help.

 

As the story unfolds, we watch as Paige tries to make things better, but almost always ends up making them worse. Some of the situations are very original, others you can perhaps forsee, but not always guess the outcome. Through the ups and downs, Paige is supported by her best friend Sarah, who was at school with her. Paiges family are less supportive and do little to make her feel better about herself. Paige has always accepted that her older sister is the favourite. There are many twists and turns before the climax, but I will not reveal whether this has a good or bad ending.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I could not put it down. Paige was portrayed as a real person, someone that most of us can relate to, with the same loves, hates, worries, niggles and joys. She responded to situations as most of us would have, with honesty, but also a mixture of intolerance, annoyance and sometimes momentary wickedness, the latter always being swiftly dissipated before any action could follow. Paige is bright, intelligent, but very insecure, but she never loses her sense of humour. The book is very funny in places, for instance, in describing her appearance, Paige tells us that she played the rabbit in the school nativity. The rabbit you ask? Well, there is a reason...and its very funny in the telling.

Sometimes you want to shake Paige. Most of the time you want to hug her. It seems that everything she tries to do turns sour, but she always springs back and many of us could learn from her. The other characters were described well, and they behaved pretty much as people do, in real life, lying, cheating, and lots of pretence. But there were also lots of wonderful moments, where love ruled, and forgiveness was the order of the day. Some of the characters were wonderfully rich, almost springing off the page, and produced some very touching moments.

I loved this book. It was fresh and easy to read, the narrative flowing off the page in a way that most people would readily understand and relate to. The plot was full of intertwining stories, each of which combined with the others to keep you guessing the outcomes and yet each retaining their own individual purpose and resolution. It was very cleverly woven together to make an interesting and entertaining read. I thoroughly recommend this book, especially to those who love chicklit, but others should try it as the humour alone is worth the read.Considering this was a first novel, it very impressive.

Read it!

 

 

I am starting a book chain thread, and this book will be available for loan, if you would like to read it. See the new thread for details.

 

Pp

[Kell]

I thought I'd add my review too (read in March 2007)...

 

Title: Karma

Author: Holly A Harvey

ISBN # 9871873671009

Publisher: Bookforce

First Published: 2006

349 pages

Format: Paperback

Rating: 8/10

 

Winner of the Undiscovered Authors 2005 General Fiction category for the North East Region

 

 

Synopsis:

Karma is a light-hearted, comical story about Paige, a 28 year-old northern woman whose life revolves around sleep, caffeine and VH-1 rather than sex, drugs and rock n roll. She has money problems to rival the national debt, more people walking over her than a 'Welcome' mat and the requisite ex-boyfriend from hell. Paige has always lived by the belief that "what goes around comes around," but after a betrayal by a friend at work and unhappy memories aroused by an invitation to a school reunion, she decides to give fate a helping hand.

 

 

Review:

I started reading this in my coffee break and almost snorted coffee out of my nose within the first couple of pages - this could have been written about me! All the mention of singing along to Adam and the Ants, and seeing Biker Mice from Mars on the telly (it was a terrible cartoon!) could have been lifted straight out of my life. This is very funny stuff - light-hearted, but written with great warmth.

 

 

I’m not usually one to get gripped by “chick-lit”, but will freely admit I lay on my bed all evening so I could finish it in peace! It makes such a nice change to have a heroine who doesn’t have a high-powered job and pots of money, or start out with the perfect boyfriend – here the heroine is a normal, down-to-earth lass who is struggling to make ends meet and hasn’t had a boyfriend in as long as she can remember (put it this way – she can count the number of her sexual conquests in the past twelve months on one finger!). She makes countless mistakes in her life – just like everyone else! It’s refreshing to see a heroine who one could not possibly feel jealous about when looking at her life.

 

 

Comedic and tragic by turn - moving moments and pants-wettingly funny highs with a Geordie accent. I'd say this is my book of the month - excellent stuff!

[nicx27]

I too felt some affinity with Paige's memories of her teenage years. I wouldn't go back to those times for all the tea in China.

 

I also agree that she's a bit of a different kind of heroine - more real than some.

 

I liked the book, and thought it was a good storyline.

[chicken]

Dont know how many times I am allowed to do this (already posted on 2 other threads!) I loved this book - I thought it was brilliant, I dont usually do chick lit but I am so glad I did read this - its well worth it.