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So The Chocolate Run came to bed, I was thinking the book was going to be one of those books where chocolate was the main aspect of the protagonists life, that she would be one of the people who hated those who didn't like chocolate blah blah blah, and I must say that I was pleasantly ... Read review
Advantages: A great easy read with believable characters!! Disadvantages: None!!!!!
...clue, but I did. And the blurb on the back of the book didn't read too well, it sounded like all the books I have read before, and I wasn't all that excited to read it. But I had taken it upstairs to bed with me and popped it in my drawer ready for the next one to pick up, thinking I had to read it at some point whether it was now or when the rest of them had run out, and I read my books in order of the ones I think I'll least enjoy up to the ones ... ...I just like to keep the best 'til last.
So The Chocolate Run came to bed, I was thinking the book was going to be one of those books where chocolate was the main aspect of the protagonists life, that she would be one of the people who hated those who didn't like chocolate blah blah blah, and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised when I picked up the book and finally read the first chapter.
I was bought this book for my birthday from my friend who knows how much I love to read, I have a huge bookcase full of unread and some previously read chick lit books. As I am alone all night most nights, I find comfort in picking up a good book and having a read for an hour or two before going to sleep as I find it helps me to switch off. This book was sat on my bookshelf for months, well since February when it was given to me...! I always skipped past it when choosing my next read as I don't know why, but I thought it was going to be an American book, I have no idea why I thought this...not a clue, but I did. And the blurb on the back of the book didn't read too well, it sounded like all the books I have read before, and I wasn't all that excited to read it. But I had taken it upstairs to bed with me and popped it in my drawer ready for the next one to pick up, thinking I had to read it at some point whether it was now or when the rest of them had run out, and I read my books in order of the ones I think I'll least enjoy up to the ones I am looking forward to, I do this for no known reason...I think I just like to keep the best 'til last.
So The Chocolate Run came to bed, I was thinking the book was going to be one of those books where chocolate was the main aspect of the protagonists life, that she would be one of the people who hated those who didn't like chocolate blah blah blah, and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised when I picked up the book and finally read the first chapter.
The Plot Amber lives in Leeds, her best friend Jen also lives there along with her boyfriend Matt and his best friend Greg. They have all been friends for three years since Jen and Matt got together. Matt and Greg were best friends since college, as were Jen and Amber, and so they have a very close connection. Greg is a womaniser, who at first Amber cannot stand, she hated his guts when she first met him and thought he was a, and I quote, "tosser", and didn't want anything to do with him. But after three years of been forced to see each other, he became her best friend, he often stopped over in her spare room, they went out to watch films and eat. But one day things go terribly wrong when Amber ends up in bed with Greg. This is where the book begins.
Amber is a commitmentphobe, she has never had a serious relationship, apart from Sean, who she got very close with, which ended very suddenly 18 months previous, since then she has been celibate, she didn't want to think about let alone have sex. Her work colleagues hate Greg for his antics (which you will read about!) and think Amber is stupid to get him out of his ahem pardon the pun, sticky situations.
But now she is at the receiving end of one of the sticky situations, and with Greg telling her he is falling for her, she doesn't know what to think, he has had a string of short relationships, he even carries his own little black book around in his pocket and has 80 booty call numbers stored on his mobile phone! But Amber gives him a go, for 6 months, she will be the owner of his little black book, and his booty call girls, after they have lasted 6 months, she can burn the book and the numbers and they can tell people about "them", if he cheats on her before that or if they don't last, well she'll burn his book anyway, but he's not to know that!!!!
The Characters Amber is actually quite a believable character, she reminds me of me in some ways, she is apprehensive to be with someone as she knows what his past has been like, she knows Greg too much to be able to fully trust him. She is a very funny character making jokes when she gets into tricky situations, and normally offending someone along the way! She's smart, unlike many of the female protagonists you find in chick lits, she actually has a bit of sense about her, she knows that what she has with Greg could go very very wrong and she is wary of that at all times.
Greg is a typical single man, he is sexy, attractive, a charmer everything a womaniser needs to be, I have known a few Greg's in my time, I have had friends who thought they could "change" a Greg like character. He sleeps around, he's shallow, he's after one thing, but he really does have feelings for Amber. But he annoys me- he thinks just because he wants her he can have her, no matter what she wants, he usually gets his own way and he is used to it by now, so he expects he'll get Amber too. But as he says, Old habits are hard to shake...!
Jen&Matt are a loved up little couple, or Jen is. When they decide to move in together, I got the impression Matt wasn't at all into it, he would rather stay in the bachelor pad he shared with Greg. But it's a cheap 30th birthday present for Jen, so he gives it her. Jen annoys the hell out of me!!!!! Before she and Matt moved in together, she and Amber set aside a day every week where they would get together at each others houses, cook, drink and gossip, this had been the arrangement since college. But when Matt moves in, she changes, no longer will she wear he combats and trainers, oh no, it's Prada shoes and short skirts now. She cancels on Amber at every opportunity, and Amber knows their close knit friendship is slipping away. Just like the rest of the characters in the book, I have also known a Jen. She dumps her friends once she is in a relationship, she stops calling stops doing anything with her friends who she has known most of her life, just to spend every waking hour with her boyfriend. But they don't realise, if they leave, if they go, the friends are the ones who support you through this, the friends are the ones who hold you up, get you back on your feet, get you through the hard times...even if it's only temporary. Oh yes, I have known a lot of Jens...!!!!
My Opinion Well as I said before I was apprehensive about picking this book up, the blurb sounded boring, the story sounded predictable, and it didn't feel like a book I would enjoy. But I was proven very wrong. The Chocolate Run has definitely been one of my favourite books this year which I have read, the characters I can relate to, which is always something of a plus in a book.
The story for me right from the first page was gripping, it had me hooked from the word go. It was nice and easy to read making it perfect bedtime reading as it allowed me to switch off easily. I like books which are eary to read, but not predictable, I like to think I know what's going to happen, then it all gets twisted up and churned around. I like a shock!!! And this book definitely gives me what I want. If you like your girly books, by authors like Jill Mansell, Marien Keyes, Belinda Jones, Caroline Matthews, you'll love this book. I am definitely thinking of buying her other books! :)
Advantages: very entertaining read Disadvantages: none
The Chocolate Run is the third book I have read by Dorothy Koomson following My Best Friend's Girl and Marshmallows for Breakfast. This book is an earlier offering and I have to admit that at first I did not think I was going to enjoy it so much - it was a bit of a slow starter for me but by about half way through I was really hooked! It's a book that's well worth sticking with!
The book is told by the main character Amber Salpone. She is a thirty ... ...upbringing which saw her witness the disintegration of her parent's own marriage. No relationship has lasted with Amber - that is until she gets together with Greg although this relationship is not without its complications. Greg and Amber have been great mates for years mainly due to the fact that their best friends Matt and Jen are seeing each other. They have generally made up a foursome but it has taken them a while to realise the attraction ...
kingfisher111 18.08.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Chocolate Run - Dorothy Koomson
Advantages: great story and characters, an original twist on an age-old story Disadvantages: none whatsoever!
...p & p. One of the books I came across on my travels was Dorothy Koomson's "The Chocolate Run". Now, I had seen this in the shops last year and been mildly interested in reading it, as I had read the author's debut novel "The Cupid Effect" and quite enjoyed that, although I hadn't thought it had quite lived up to the hype it seemed to have generated. I decided to purchase "The Chocolate Run" at this knockdown price but I wasn't really expecting much ... ...intelligent. Rather than it being the story of a couple taking four hundred pages to get it together, it actually begins with the new formation of a relationship - between our heroine Amber and womaniser Greg. Amber and Greg have just had an ill-judged one night stand when the book opens, after being mere friends for a few years, and Amber is already regretting letting sex interfere with their friendship. She knows this will have ruined everything, ...
Pmshack99 27.07.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Chocolate Run - Dorothy Koomson
Advantages: Good story, warm characters Disadvantages: None as such - just not her best book
The Chocolate Run is the 2nd novel by Dorothy Koomson. She is best known for her novel 'My Best Friends Girl' which was listed in the Richard & Judy Summer Reading selection. The book I am reviewing was re released in February 2008 on the back of her success. I have previously read, enjoyed and reviewed 'My Best Friends Girl' which led me to read 'The Chocolate Run'.
My expectations for this book were lower, primarily because it had been released ... ...successful. Although this book lacked the emotion and deep drama of the other novel I did still find it an enjoyable read.
~ ~The Story~ ~
Amber Salpone likes to eat chocolate and so I identified with her character immediately. She also likes to categorise the people in her life as types of chocolate. Although chocolate and various references to the chocolate run are made throughout the book this is secondary to the main story. It does however ...
kirkytracy 27.03.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Chocolate Run - Dorothy Koomson
Advantages: Had me entralled, didnt want to put it down! Disadvantages: Slow start, but worth the wait!!
...but once you get past the initial introductions it really starts to heat up!! Not only does this book make ur mouth salivate at all the mentioning of chocolate! It is a twisted, tangled love story encompassing friendship, passion, love and despair. The story had me enthralled, it made me laugh, but at times,caught up in Ambers pain, I felt heartbroken! I found myself totally caught up in Amber and Gregs relationship, a absolutely mesmerising read!! ...
angel_44x 16.11.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of The Chocolate Run - Dorothy Koomson
Advantages: Feel good factor Disadvantages: didn't want it to finish
This was the 3rd book I read by Dorothy Koomson, and after My Best Friend's Girl it was refreshing not to be sobbing through each page. This doesn't mean that this is just another run of the mill chick lit. It goes through some strong issues to do with friendship and really makes you question just how well you know the people around you. It is heart wrenching to experience Amber's realisations about how her friendship with her best friend is not ... ...soon as I finished I re-read the ending again, however this was because it did seem to end a bit too quickly but this could be because I didn't want to finish it! Just one warning-the discriptions of chocolate will make you want to go on your own Chocolate Run! ...
cdog24 17.08.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of The Chocolate Run - Dorothy Koomson
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Advantages: Emotional, well written, page turner Disadvantages: Can't keep the standard up to the end
better. The writing generally is much more complex and moving. We see grief as dealt with by adults as we see Kamryn come to terms with the death of her friend but we also experience the suffering of a young child after the loss of her mother.
Without going into too much detail which may give away the story, the book also focuses on learning to trust, abuse, guilt, jealousy, difficult decisions, racial prejudice and doing the right thing.
~ The Author ~
DorothyKoomson has currently written four novels, My Best Friends Girl being the 3rd. The Cupid Effect and The ChocolateRun were her earlier novels and her follow up to this is Marshmallows for Breakfast. Dorothys first book was published in 2001 after a career writing for magazines and newspapers. My Best Friends Girl was selected for Richard & Judy Summer Reads Book Club (The ...
Product Information for "The Chocolate Run - Dorothy Koomson" »
Product details
Type
Fiction
Genre
Modern Fiction
Title
The Chocolate Run
Author
Dorothy Koomson
ISBN
0749934506; 0751539686
Manufacturer's product description
Amber Salpone thinks in chocolate - talk to her for three minutes and she'll tell you what kind of chocolate you'd be. In fact, most days, if she was asked to choose between chocolate and relationships, there'd be no contest. At least chocolate has never let her down. Unlike her family. Growing up in the Salpone household has taught Amber to avoid conflict - and love - at all costs. So, when she does the unthinkable and has a one-night stand with womaniser Greg Walterson, her uncomplicated, chocolate-flavoured life goes into meltdown. Especially when Greg announces she's the love of his life - and Amber finds it hard enough to decide if she wants plain or Fruit & Nut ...Meanwhile, her best friend, Jen, seems to be launching a bid to become Bitch Of The Year and Amber's family are making unreasonable demands. Amber has two choices: to deal with her past and the people around her, or to go on a chocolate run and keep on running ...
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