Book Review: Twisted Sisters by Jen Lancaster
Twisted Sisters by Jen Lancaster
Publisher: NAL
Paperback Release Date: January 6, 2015
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
Reagan Bishop is a pusher. A licensed psychologist who stars on the Wendy Winsberg cable breakout show I Need a Push, Reagan helps participants become their best selves by urging them to overcome obstacles and change behaviors. An overachiever, Reagan is used to delivering results.
Despite her overwhelming professional success, Reagan never seems to earn her family’s respect. Her younger sister, Geri, is and always will be the Bishop family favorite. When a national network buys Reagan’s show, the pressures for unreasonably quick results and higher ratings mount. But Reagan’s a clinician, not a magician, and fears witnessing her own personal failings in prime time. (And seriously? Her family will never let her hear the end of it.) Desperate to make the show work and keep her family at bay, Reagan actually listens when the show’s New Age healer offers an unconventional solution…
Reagan is the responsible, successful sister. She’s a TV psychologist on an Oprah type show called I Need a Push and thinks she is pretty darn near perfect. Her sister Geri, on the other hand, is flighty and low on ambition. She’s only a hair-dresser for Pete’s sake. (Reagan’s opinion, not mine.) Why is it that people, including her own family, like Geri so much more?
When I Need a Push is bought by a bigger network, they want to her segment to go in a completely different direction – one that she is not happy with. Her method is to dig deeply with each client and get to the root of their problem. The new network wants her show to be more like reality TV – high drama with the person “cured” by the end of the episode. Reagan knows there is no way she can make this happen. But then her New Age friend Deva offers up a solution.
Okay, Deva’s solution was completely unrealistic, which is fine. I didn’t know this book had magical realism in it but I can roll with it. However, none of the other characters even batted an eye. And this was something that regular people would have freaked out about for sure.
Also, the last half of the book seemed rushed. Reagan didn’t find out about Deva’s solution until that point and once she did, she didn’t need any convincing to use it. Even though it was freaky and unethical. And then it was over before I knew it. I read it on my Kindle so I didn’t have the physical feel of how many pages were left and I was genuinely surprised when it ended.
I read this book when I was in the hospital a few months ago and it was a great distraction because it’s definitely light chick-lit. However, I didn’t like it as much as Jen’s other forays into fiction and it’s definitely not as good as her memoirs. I think die-hard fans will be okay with it and have some fun but if you’re new to Jen, don’t start with this one. Start with her first memoir, Bitter is the New Black. It is hilarious!
Reviews of Jen’s memoirs:
Such a Pretty Fat
Pretty In Plaid
My Fair Lazy
I Regret Nothing
Reviews of Jen’s novels:
If You Were Here
Here I Go Again
