Flip Flopped

by Jill Smolinski

A wry, witty and very funny romantic comedy set in Hawaii. 'After five years together, I was still in love with my husband. That would probably have been a good thing, except I was serving him divorce papers.' Keeley Baker is an academic drawn to Hawaii in search of volcanoes and love. At the beginning of the novel, she has just been dumped by her husband, Kam, a native Hawaiian five years her junior, who has left her for a hula dancer. This sends Keeley into a temporary emotional spin and the novel follows her journey - by way of a papier mache erotica exhibition, an escaped pet iguana, an out-of-control children's birthday party and an erupting volcano - as she learns to pull herself up by the sandal straps and move on with her life.

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Romance, Book Club, Beach Reads, Contemporary

Paperback

First published July 12, 2002

About the author

I am the author of the novels Objects of My Affection, The Next Thing on My List and Flip-Flopped. I love calling in to book clubs, so visit my web site if you're reading one of my books and would like me to join in the discussion.

Reviews

[J Jahir · Rating 3 out of 5]

normal. no me entusiasmó mucho pero tampoco me desagradó. un estilo chick-lit que entretiene, historia curiosa aunque problemática de una mujer cuya profesión de vulcanóloga (algo raro por cierto y diferente) tiene problemas matrimoniales con su marido, están a punto de divorciarse, y pelean por la custodia de su pequeño de 5 años. hay momentos algo cómicos y otros absurdos, pero no tiene mucho más. por ahí es ligero y entretiene un poco.

[Caitlin Moyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading Jill Smolinksi's "The Next Thing on My List," I was very eager to read more by this author so I picked up "Flip-Flopped."

While it was a good, easy read, I found this novel harder to get into, perhaps because I felt distanced from all of the characters. Usually in a chick-lit type book, I can relate to the heroine or main character, but in this case, I was very detached from her.

The book also had a number of different themes running throughout--with plot lines pertaining to everything from divorce and volcanoes to weddings and Davy Jones--and I felt that not all of them were tied up in the end.

"Flip-Flopped" left me wanting more from the story, but I can't quite put my finger on what it is; however, I am not sorry that I read it and I definitely want to read more from Jill Smolinksi.

[Trudy · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like chick lit... this is pretty good. The story of a mainlander, Keely, that goes to Hawaii to study volcanos and meets, has a kid with, and marries a native Hawaiin. Hubby (Kam) cheats... so they are in the middle of a divorce... sometimes nasty, sometimes sweet... Keely meets Ian while in line to get Davy Jones' autograph... The guy I was rooting for didn't win which makes me a little sad, but it was entertaining... easy, and cute/quirky and throw in a fairly extinct volcano acting up and you get a few good laughs... I probably could have done wihtout the whole Davy Jones thing - lol... but whatever... beachy read for sure.

[Iris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I certainly enjoyed this book, but it was what I was looking for at the time. Something light and breezy. Nothing too complicated at all. I fully admit to not using my brain much during this reading, but I had a slight migraine and I was not tired enough to sleep. Not the authors best work, but still good.

[Juliane · Rating 1 out of 5]

Habe mich bis Seite 65 durchgequält, dann aufgegeben. Eindeutig nicht mein Fall!

[Donna Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Keeley fell for a handsome man, in a foreign land. (Hawaii) She, an educated volcanologist, met him unexpectedly, and became pregnant. They married and had a beautiful child. It fell apart before it ever came together.
This follows the attempts to divorce him, and the challenges that two people, who have a bond over their child, must wade through in solving the problem. A huge part of this, is Kam's involvement with another woman and the fact this "new" family plans to move to Fiji, and take Keeley's precious son. Keeley is constantly ricocheting off of her emotions on trying to live, work, parent and have a life while fighting for her son.
Interesting tactics between Keeley's lawyer, Morna, and Kam's lawyers, Lee, Lee & Lee also add to the intrigue. I found the book easy to read and with a satisfactory conclusion for my taste.

[Suzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even with the main character undergoing a chaotic crazy life, the author finds a way to put in humor and make this a fun read. For those readers that like to learn something, the author really did her homework on Hawaii and volcanos. Great beach read and a great late night read with no scary parts.

[Sylvia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un libro para pasar el rato, no diré que es lo mejor que me tocó leer en el puente de fin de semana; pero sí para entretenerme.
Creo que en momentos me pareció sosa la historia, aunque no niego que tuvo sus momentos amenos, con buenos diálogos entre los personajes.
Keeley y sus complicaciones, que a pesar de todo, en momentos me resultaron muy predecibles.

[El Umbrella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun quick read.

[michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2. some LLOL parts.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some moments were great, others just not. The ending bumped this up to a 3.

[Alyssa · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was way too much going on in this book. The different plot lines and characters were all very undeveloped. It was almost confusing to keep up at times.

[Monique Lebrocq · Rating 1 out of 5]

How do I hate thee?
Far too many ways to count.
I should have quit you.

[Sharon McKinley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beginning Wa a little so so but worth continuing.

[Julias Leseecke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Inhalt:
Keeley ist Vulkanologin auf Hawaii. Sie hat sich von ihrem untreuen Ehemann getrennt, den sie jung geheiratet hat. Nun geht es um die Scheidung und das Sorgerecht des kleinen Sohnes. Sie beschließt, sich nicht mehr zu verlieben, hat der Liebe abgeschworen.
Zudem steht ihr geliebter Vulkan kurz vor dem Ausbruch und sie lernt den charmanten Ian kennen.

Meine Meinung:
Ich habe vor langer Zeit "Die Wunschliste" von der Autorin gelesen und konnte mich erinnern, dass ich das Buch richtig klasse fand. Als ich dann das bunte und ansprechende Cover sah, musste ich das Buch einfach mitnehmen.
Ich finde das Buch etwas unstrukturiert, ich habe den roten Faden vermisst.
Es gibt viele Rückblicke in die Anfangszeit der Beziehung von Keeley zu ihrem untreuen Ehemann, vermutlich weil die Story um die Scheidung sonst etwas dünn wäre.
Dann wäre da noch ihr Teenie-Idol, das sie unbedingt kennenlernen will und den charmanten Kunsthändler Ian. Gespickt ist das ganze noch mit dem Geschehen am Vulkan und verschiedenen Streitigkeiten in der Familie.
Wie gesagt, mir fehlte der rote Faden.
Der Schreibstil ist nicht schlecht, typische leichte und heitere Frauenliteratur, aber der Inhalt war irgendwie etwas mager. Es wird zwischen verschiedenen Themen hin- und hergesprungen, ohne eine gewisse Tiefe aufzubauen.

Fazit:
Man kann es mal eben so zwischendurch lesen, aber es gibt bessere Bücher in diesem Genre. Es war alles in allem okay.

[mandyfujita · Rating 3 out of 5]

The character of Keeley Baker-Kekuhi was hard for me to cheer for. There are parts of her that I enjoyed reading about like her interaction with Ian Gardiner, the artist rep that is attracted to her. Even her best friend Regatta who made Keeley her maid of honor is funny to read about. What I didn't like was her relationship with her soon to be ex-husband, Kam, who moved in with his girlfriend and is trying for full custody of their child, Dante.

I realize that the story is named Flip-Floopped, but it drove me crazy when Kam was obviously not going to change and will still be the lieing, cheating, lazy husband that he currently is. When love is blind, that's what happens. I wanted to read more of Jill Smolinski's books since I read her other "Objects of My Affection" and thoroughly enjoyed that one. This first book for me was more frustrating since I hate wishy-washy people. I am from Hawaii, but live on the island of Oahu instead of the Big Island where the setting takes place in this book. I was curious how she was going to portray the "locals". The last fourth of the book was enjoyable with all the chaos happening on the island, but other than that I cannot recommend this book.

[Sara Strand · Rating 3 out of 5]

So the book, to me, has a very similar love story as The Next Thing On My List, so much so that I could already tell the ending. Normally I would hate this, but this was such a relatable story for me that I overlooked it and kept reading. Totally glad I did because there was a few twists in it, but overall it was good. The thing that was distracting to me was the secondary story of this damn volcano that I think took away from the main storyline. That's just me though. Basically it's about a woman who is divorcing her two timing loser husband and the ensuing divorce and custody battle over their son. It's relatable because I have contemplated divorce because of Matt's bad deeds and my main reason for not divorcing? A custody battle. Ugh. I can't even fathom how I would handle that. Somehow, it seems easier to stick with him than to put my kids through that. Ugh. The high road- supposed to be glorious? Not so much. Anyways- book was good, nice fast read.

[JoAnne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Keeley is a married woman with a four year old son. She is a volcanologist working on a dormant volcano. She starts seeing signs of life from the volcano. Her boss does not care and her job is stressing her out. He is switching her to the PR dept. Her husband left her for another woman and they are divorcing. Kam decides her wants full custody and then he is moving to Fiji (from Hawaii). Then she meets Ian. He is a great guy but lied to her about knowing Davy Jones (from the Monkees). There is a big storyline about Davy Jones! Nothing seems to be working out for Keeley.Will she just let everything go and relax? Will the volcano come to life?

I liked this book. I could sympathize with Keeley's problems. This story shows you how some people grow up and others don't.

[Leesh · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was warned by most reviews that the books wasn't that great. Many liked the beginning but said the rest was a bore. I agree with this. I really enjoyed the start, it got me intrigued but then when a new guy came into the picture, I lost interest. This is mainly because I liked Keeley and Kam together. I kept on reading because I was rooting for them. Not to give too much away, I was quite disappointed with the ending. What helped me get through this book was I had actors in mind as I read from each page. I envisioned what I was reading as if it was a movie. Thank goodness I only paid $4.99 for this book.

[Alenna · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have never been a book quitter... I just couldn't do it. But I gave this book 10 pages to grab my attention, to proceed from one thought to the next understandably and to get me interested in the characters. It didn't pass the test.
So I'm starting a new thing for 2014 - no more reading books that I don't like. (I still don't think I'll be able to quit a book halfway through, but I'm not going to force myself to read something just because I've read a chapter or two and it sucks.) Life is too short to read crappy books!

[Selene Gudino · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really what i was expecting. Kinda fools you but you can still know the end since the begining. This book can surely work as a beach reading while you watch the kids or something, but if you have just a little time to read i urge you not to chose this one. Is light and sometimes kindda funny, but i really expected more. Is not bad though, read it if you have it. I think the author have a lot of potencial, this is my first read of her, but im looking forward to read THE NEXT THING ON MY LIST.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this story, probably because it has plenty of heart-wrenching spots. You all know I love a good tragedy. I actually stayed up all night and read it in one sitting. That fact alone warrants an extra star. This is my second novel by Jill Smolinski. She's going on my read-everything-she-writes list.

There were plenty of items for me to critique, but none of them were that annoying and none of them even stilted the speed/flow with which I was reading, so who cares what they are?

[Julee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sehr entäuschendes Buch. da wollte ich nur mal was seichtes nebenbei lesen und es stellt sich als sehr langweilig und nichtssagend herraus. Vielleicht liegt es daran, das ich noch keine eigenen Kinder habe, Scheidungen mich bisher nicht interressieren, Hawaii für mich total unspanned uns und ein Vulkanausbruch das Buch auch nicht rettet. Dabei bin ich mit großen Erwartungen an das Buch rann gegangen. Denn ihr erster Roman "Die Wunschliste" ist soooo schön.

[Sallyann Van leeuwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Keeley originally headed to Hawaii to study volcanoes but ended up marrying a local and settling down to raise a child with him. The pace of their world is slow and relaxed. But when her husband moves out with a hula dancer and wants to take their child with him, Keeley needs to join the fight and fast.

Good holiday read, with some funny lines and scenes, but some of the characters didn't really ring true, and it was hard to see why she would want Kam back.

[Knotty · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh, I thought a book about Hawaii would be great. The only thing I remember from this book involves the scene with the man bringing peas into the ocean for the fish to eat it. I actually had frozen peas in my fridge and tried to feed my fish. Needless to say, doesn't really translate from aquariums from the ocean.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining but not great. Not memorable. Seemed to take much longer to read than other chick lit of as many pages. Lots of themes and metaphors that made sense in conjunction with the story, so in a literary sense I guess you could say it was good in the way it drew solid parallels. Not reminiscent of The Next Thing on My List at all, though.

[Danette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I read this before so I'm stopping at page 50 and skimming the rest.

Found my review from 2006:

Transplant to Hawaiian life, Kelly tries to understand her ex, convince people a volcano is doing the improbable and getting ready to explode, and to learn to date again. Very funny look at life in Hawaii.

[Margaret]

A fun read and I think the title was appropriate - Keeley flip-flopped considerably on what to do in her life but it all worked out in the end. Everyone in the book had odd names - Keeley, Kam, Dante, Regatta and even her quirky lawyer. I loved the setting of Hawaii and the volcano sub-plot and also Keeley's obsession with Davy Jones of the Monkees!

[Maria · Rating 1 out of 5]

After 50 pages of this book, I abandoned it. I couldn't get interested in the characters or the storyline. For "chick lit", I thought it was lame. I don't say that about many books. Oh well, life is way too short to read books I am not interested in!

[K]

this was a hard book for me to get into. I read several books while reading this one. I must have not read the exerpt and bought it because of the cover pic :) because I had no idea it was a Hawaiian themed book.