Leah
Written on Dec 9, 2014
When I read the description for Age, Sex, Location it promised to be as good as Girls and a Bridget Jones' Diary for the noughties. Neither are signs that made me want to read the book, because I don't watch Girls (and am not interested in watching Girls) and I absolutely hated Bridget Jones' Diary, but I liked the synopsis. It sounded promising, if not perhaps to my tastes. It sounded like something Gemma Burgess might write - a feisty heroine, determined to make her mark, and feisty heroines are my favourites.
Age, Sex, Location was a bit of a strange read. It's all about Lauren's quest to follow the rules of all these weird dating books (which should all be burned in a fire, frankly) and document her successes (and many, many failures). I can't say that it's something I would ever personally do - the miserable bookseller was right, why can't girls just be normal? You don't need a bloody book to tell you how to date, but I was interested in Lauren's experiment, to see how it would turn out and if true love would come her way...
The novel is entertaining, but it's mindless stuff. It's the sort of novel you read and then forget about an hour later, but sometimes that's okay, and I certainly don't mean it as a criticism. Sometimes you need a lighter read, and this more than provides that, because Lauren's dates are sometimes hysterical and really amusing.
It was somewhat intriguing to read all the nonsensical rules all these self-help books try to peddle. I mean, it's absolutely ridiculous, but seeing it play out in a modern setting was both ridiculous but entertaining because who does that?!?! It's just not the norm.
I really liked Lauren; I didn't agree with what she was doing, but I liked her. I loved her flatmate, too! They made quite the pair and I'd have quite happily read a novel just filled with their exchanges, because they got on as if they'd known each other for ever.
The romance. It was on the backburner, and there were so many different guys and just when someone looked promising, it all went up in flames (thankfully, not literally). I knew who I had my money on, but it needed more work. There needed to be more to their interactions, because when Lauren finally realised it, it didn't really make sense because she didn't know him.
And while I loved Lauren, the book didn't exactly make her look good at all. It made her look promiscuous and shallow, and willing to do literally anything to get someone into bed (including using a French girl).
I would have also liked more back story on her and Dylan, which was brushed under the rug, and referred to continuously as a Bad Thing. I thought Dylan was to blame, but he wasn't, at all. I didn't even really understand Lauren's motives for leaving because surely she should have realised those feelings sooner than after they'd got married?!?!?!
Age, Sex, Location wasn't the novel I expected, nor the novel I wanted. I loved the title - harking back to the days of MSN Messenger when you'd message a new friend A/S/L to find our their details. While the novel had its bright spots, and while I really liked Lauren, it was really lacking in the romance department.
I was also a bit dismayed to finish the novel and then see an authors note declaring that this was based on something Melissa herself had done. I'm all for writing what you know but it supposed to be fiction! I'd have rather not had that tidbit in the end (or I would have liked a memoir!)
If you're looking for a light, fun read Age, Sex, Location is for you, especially if you like your heroines with a bit more about them than the norm!{Leah Loves} http://leah-loves.com http://leah-loves.com/books-age-sex-location-melissa-pimentel/