Book Review: Kismetology by Jaimie Admans

Kismetology by Jaimie Admans

Genre: Chick-Lit, British Literature, Fiction

Currently available on Amazon

[rating=2]

Synopsis: Finding the perfect man isn’t easy. Especially when it’s for your mother…

Mothers. Can’t live with them, can’t live without them, can’t live three doors down the road without them interfering in every aspect of your life.

Mackenzie Atkinson’s mother has meddled in her love life once too often and something has to be done. Mackenzie decides to turn the tables and find love for her lonely mother.
Her lonely and very fussy mother.
Surely finding an older gentleman looking for love won’t be that hard, right?
Wrong.
If you’ve ever thought that boys grow up, here’s the problem: They don’t. Ever.
And Mackenzie is about to learn that the hard way.

Faced with a useless boyfriend, dressed up dogs, men who wear welly boots on dates, men who shouldn’t be allowed out in public, and men who make reptiles seem like attractive company – will she ever find the perfect man for her neurotic mother?

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As an avid reader of Sophie Kinsella’s books, I was able to understand some of the British-isms present in Kismetology. However, if you are unfamiliar with British authors – and British humor – this may not be the best book for you. To be perfectly honest, even if you do enjoy books written by British authors, this still may not be the book for you.

Kismetology is a fun and unique concept, and really drew me in at the beginning. I laughed along with Mac through the first several dates and, like Mac and her boyfriend, quickly grew annoyed with her mother. You can guess where Mac’s story is going to end up within the first few chapters, though you are left guessing about the ending for Mac’s mother. So, the question of whether or not Mac would be able to find a man for her mother was enough to keep me interested in the story.

However, I found it starting to drag on a bit before I even hit the halfway mark. It says something about the book if you get that far into the story and realize that you just want to skip to the last chapter. After a while, I started skimming through Mac’s dates with the various men as well as the interactions between Mac and her mother. Both the dates and the mother became too repetitive.

[As a side: are there really that many ridiculous and disgusting 50-year-old men running around England? Seems like with all the dates Mac went on, she really should have encountered at least a few more relatively normal and stable options.]

Ultimately, Kismetology has its good moments, but almost landed on my “never finished” shelf. I can tell you that the ending is perfectly understandable even if you just skip to the last 10 pages or so. I think this book would make an interesting discussion topic because I am curious to know if my opinion of it is a result of being American. Perhaps UK readers will enjoy it more.