A Totally Unsolicited Book Review

I am in love with Matt Gibson. Yes, you did read that right and no, my husband should have no problem with that considering the fact that Matt is fictional and the girl he is in love with is named Ashley, not Rebecca.

I don’t read a lot of chick lit and I read even less “Mormon” fiction but I loved every minute of “The List” written by Melanie Jacobson. I especially loved the fact that I could intuit what was coming and I could hardly stand not to skip ahead. There were points where my chest hurt, my heart beating with pain because in those moments, I was Ashley, and sometimes it broke me.

Now, this was not the greatest work of fiction ever written, and reading it hasn’t changed me in any fantastic and noticeable way, but these are things that Melanie would openly admit about the book herself. Why did I love it so? Why I am having a hard time coming down from my romantic high?

Maybe it was because the main character, Ashley, was drawn out so well. She and I share so many commonalities.

Let’s have a look:

Ashley feels that getting married young is akin to death.

(ok, she may not have been so dramatic…)

As a result of this belief, she keeps everyone at arm’s length with her witty and somewhat sarcastic style of flirting.

Marriage wasn’t at the top of my list either and it wasn’t until I was 26 that I finally married.

(Yes, I do realize this was not old but pretty much everyone else I knew had already taken the plunge)

I interacted with the opposite sex in much the same way that Ashley does, using my quick thinking and joking banter as really the only hook I had.

I had goals, I was fiercely independent and would rather die than be squashed by a dominant male. And so, in this character, I was reliving so much of who I was for so long.

I waited tables for my income, spent my summers at the beach, my winters at BYU. I ran down to the “Beachside” singles ward whenever I got a chance because I didn’t like the smallness of my home singles ward (sound familiar) and besides there was a much larger selection in Orange County.

I could pretty much pick out exactly which house was Matt’s, from the personal experience of being there for the barbeques myself (I wonder if Melanie was there too?). I knew his board shop, all of the places they went, the church building, even the restaurant in Riverside.

But here’s where we differ:

I would have never had the guts to set my sights on the “Top Dog.” I was self-confident but the hoard of blonde girls she describes, were far too intimidating for me. Unless I was somehow lucky enough to get the “Top Dog” alone, this would have never happened.

I loved to try new things but because me and swim suits/wetsuits never mixed, I would not have had “learn to surf” on my list…though after reading this at the beach yesterday, I am seriously reconsidering.

Back in my single days, I saw myself as relatively witty and able to hook a man based on my conversation skills alone.

(If you know me well and would beg to differ, please don’t crush my fondest memories with the embarrassing realities – I do enjoy a bit of fantasy)

But Ashley is far more skilled than I ever was. She says less when I would probably say too much. She’s quick but kind in her banter, where my “love bites” might have been a bit more sarcastic and painful. She has it all over me but somehow I still feel like we are soul sisters.

And last, but not least, Ashley still seems to have a hard time admitting her own guilt in the “game” part of the whole relationship thing. I tend to be quick to own up to my decisions, good or bad. And I would have totally felt the need to explain it…see, always saying too much.

Oh yeah, and I would have honestly thrown out the list long ago if I had someone like Matt in my clutches, because, let’s face it, I’m not nearly as stubborn or driven.

So now, it’s over. I’ve closed the book on the last page and I kind of miss it. It’s sort of like the end of summer and all I want to do is go back to the beach. Why can’t I go live in some little happily ever after with Matt and Ashley? I would promise to be good…

On a side note: A huge thanks to Melanie for unknowingly writing something so close to my memories and for being incredibly skilled in the area of dialogue. I have been hashing out my own personal story on paper for a long time and for me, writing dialogue comes much slower than many other skills. Your book was a huge reminder of my own conversations and how translating that onto paper can really make your reader fall in love with and relate to your characters. I’ll be using this book as a “how to” text in the near future.