It's Not You, It's Me

by Helen Dunne

Thirty two-year-old Holly Parker is a corporate investigator, which is not to be confused with a private eye. She does not rifle through underwear drawers (unless it's a new boyfriend), take dodgy photos (unless it's a long-standing boyfriend), or dress in dirty raincoats (unless it's a weird boyfriend). No, Holly checks out the backgrounds of candidates for some of the top jobs in the city. Yet while she helps countless high profile companies to find their Mr. Right for the Job, her personal life is littered with romantic disasters, men who dump her using the same tired old cliché, "It's not you, it's me!" Holly doesn't believe them. So when she meets sexy Carl Lawson, she determines not to repeat past mistakes, but first she must discover what those mistakes were. Then she can turn herself into the Perfect Girlfriend. Or can she?

282 pages, Hardcover

First published January 2, 2007

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

For some reason, my university really drove home the notion of not plagiarizing. Seriously, a day in like every single lecture was dedicated to how not to plagiarize. Which freaked me the fuck out of doing it and not realizing it. But now all that is in the past. I read now, not write (man, I really need to get back into that…) and reading all these chick-lit novels I think, how are these people getting away with literally writing the same story over and over again, just with different supporting characters and different settings. Is that all you need so you don’t get sued for plagiarizing?
This book was about a Girl with a shit love life (duh) who works as a private investigator. She gets hired by some company and falls for the guy she is in contact with, which apparently is a huge no-no. He totally manipulates her and she is a total idiot and falls for it, which really pissed me off, because this girl seemed smart, but I guess not! She spilled secrets she shouldn’t have which made me wonder how she has gotten this far in this job before. The supporting characters were actually okay and you could spot the good guy that had the crush on the Girl a mile away. The end wrapped up too neatly and quickly. The whole book was a giant DUH!

Grade: C-

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I cannot understand why this book has had such bad reviews.

Yes; this story is predictable, but with a title like "it's not you, its me" what can people really expect? Yes; this story is fluffy and not a serious read.

Advice: If your looking for a read like "the help", or "emma" DO NOT READ THIS.

This story was well written and was a very easy page turner. It was extremely funny in parts. I wanted a light read that would put a smile on my face and leave me feeling warm inside. This book delivered.

[ReBecca · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ignorant...That's the best way to sum up this book. The main character, Holly is just dumb or really portrayed as an idiot. She has very low self confidence and allows this successful guy, Carl to warp her into putty... And she believes he is her soul mate. It felt to me like this book was very typical a girl needs a man type of thing especially with her bouncing around w guys even at the end. Don't read this book there are way better books out there that won't kill brain cells from reading it!

[Vickie Taylor-Edwards · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yes it's a "chick lit" book so it's not going to be the most challenging read and normally I wouldn't mind that however the main character is so unbelievable that it just didn't ring true enough. The reason girls like girly books is because it's relatable but this wasn't - how could she be so clueless yet so switched on? Parts were ok but overall not great unfortunately.

[Stacey Plumb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not bad. Everything wrapped up as expected at the end. And the last bit (where two of the characters end) was very quickly done. I think I’d have preferred it to be slightly slower… unless there’s a sequel I don’t know about.

[Nadia]

One word...hilarious!!

[Donnamarie Mackay · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a light heart quick read, some funny parts pretty much an average chuck lit book.

[Elisa Kay]

A girl who has been hurt by love. She blames herself and seeks answers. But love could be closer than she ever imagined

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot was slightly predictable, but besides that a good read. The characters were believable, and relatable and the telling of the story had you flinching, groaning, and laughing.

[Supriya · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a book that conclusively proves that "chick-lit" is not for me ... silly and a waste of time reading this at any time, or for any age.