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Stick Or Twist
Anna Christie Very, very early thirtiesMarital Living with boyfriend It's been a while. Maybe six weeks? Crafting sparkling features for magazine Casual Chic such as 'Man Why No Marriage is Safe'Current What to do when your much loved boyfriend of ten years gets down on one knee and pops the question you've been secretly dreading? Stick - say yes, jump on the marriage bandwagon, accept that babies are now standard issue and always wonder if the grass is greener ...ORTwist - walk away, move onto your best friend's sofa, pine for your ex but perk up once sexy and seemingly perfect Harry comes breezing into your life...Hilarious, romantic and painfully honest, Stick or Twist proves that sometimes the most unlikely man turns out to be the One.
ebook
First published February 26, 2009
About the author
Eleanor Moran
21 books53 followersEleanor Moran is an author and BBC TV producer.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
December 9, 2010
Stick or Twist is rather ordinary example of British chick lit. I swear every single woman in Britain must work for a magazine or PR company. In this instance, Anna Christie not only writes for a magazine, she is also organising a PR event, that is a loss of a star straight off the bat sadly because its such a cliche in the wake of Bridget Jones.
Stick or Twist is a fairly mindless read. Anna is a shallow 30 something who dumps her boyfriend of ten years when he proposes. Within a week or two she is hooked up with a semi famous arrogant toyboy after blithely ignoring Mr Right only to agonise over all three men until finally she gets a clue. I must admit I didn't find her particularly likeable, she whined about her coworkers, her parents, the men and even her friends all with a lack of self awareness. I didn't feel any of the secondary characters except perhaps Horst were developed enough to provide additional interest.
There are flashes of humour and the writing is fine, I just didn't feel there was anything particularly special about Stick or Twist.
Stick or Twist is a fairly mindless read. Anna is a shallow 30 something who dumps her boyfriend of ten years when he proposes. Within a week or two she is hooked up with a semi famous arrogant toyboy after blithely ignoring Mr Right only to agonise over all three men until finally she gets a clue. I must admit I didn't find her particularly likeable, she whined about her coworkers, her parents, the men and even her friends all with a lack of self awareness. I didn't feel any of the secondary characters except perhaps Horst were developed enough to provide additional interest.
There are flashes of humour and the writing is fine, I just didn't feel there was anything particularly special about Stick or Twist.
July 27, 2021
Easy to read but a bit boring in places, predictable and wanted to skip a few pages.
A story about a girl who had a loving boyfriend of ten years, he proposes, she says no. Anna then finds other men as rebound relationships. Her ex hooks up with her best mate and gets married. Anna begins a relationship with Tom who is a friend throughout the book.
A story about a girl who had a loving boyfriend of ten years, he proposes, she says no. Anna then finds other men as rebound relationships. Her ex hooks up with her best mate and gets married. Anna begins a relationship with Tom who is a friend throughout the book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 14, 2025
I wish I could say I enjoyed this. It was light hearted but I felt no connection to the characters, and the story wasn’t captivating. I had no eagerness to pick up the book to carry on reading hence why it took so long to finish. Overall it’s nice but just not for me
August 13, 2017
Funny, quirky and very predictable. Good summer read, but nothing worth recommending to others.
January 15, 2020
It's okay, story line is good, but would've liked more from it.
July 13, 2020
A easy holiday read for sure!
August 12, 2026
First time reading an E Moran, was right up my street with the humor and banter of all the different characters, def will read more of her books.
November 23, 2017
For the formulaic and prolific genre that chic-lit has become in 'the naughties', the better examples of it are not served well by twee covers that use hot pink curly font, love hearts and pale blue flowers to sell what's between the pages. The cover of Stick or Twist (not to mention the title) does it a huge disservice because Moran's debut novel is not just another Bridget Jones bland-off that takes us down into the dirty, desperate world of man-trapping when a woman is over the age of 30. Certainly, as plot device, single women on the prowl past their supposed prime, shows no signs of fading – they just turn 40 and turn a television series into much hyped film – and Stick or Twist is not defying the rules, but Moran has brought the genre up to date. Her references to the 'self-help witches' playing their mantras in the heroine's head need no explanation for those likely to read her book and they're also very funny, in a contextual way.
Determined to do as the adage says and not judge a book by its cover, I flicked to the first chapter to discern whether I could spend a weekend in bed – and give up sleep into the wee hours – for Stick or Twist. The opening gambit − 'Saturday mornings are the most menacing time. Teeth brushed and genitals soaped, this is the moment when 'monogamous man' stalks his prey.' - convinced me to buy a bottle of red to go with. Tick box one for engaging chic-lit – lots of pithy one-liners, wry observations and self-conscious clichés worked over with an original twist. Box two is a heroine 'just like us' (or close enough to relate) – Anna Christie has a job she's unsatisfied with, but she's still within a professional cooee of the glam and vacuous and she has a small circle of flawed and interesting, but loyal girlfriends. It sounds like a write-by-numbers book about a single and 30 something girl finding love in London and it is, but Moran starts the book off on a more original premise than most and she imbues Anna with so much emotional integrity that to say this book is a 'good' example of its genre is to woefully undersell its charms, much like the cover does.
Unlike Bridget and her moan clones, Anna has a great guy (an Aiden if you need a SATC point of reference) – a boyfriend of 10 years that's just proposed to her – only trouble is she's bored as flying marsupial droppings with him and the thought of marrying 'the one' is looking more like marital penury that happily ever after. She's not the dumped – a refreshing change in itself – but the dumpee and all the wretchedness that stems from leaving a long term partner for greener and steamier pastures is weighted with its due and true sentiments here, as Anna enters the inevitable dating fray for the first time in 10 years. The strength of Moran's writing is her ability to convey the mental and emotional anguish Anna is experiencing − picking up on those little things that anyone who's been there only knows too well - post break-up, without diffusing it too much with over-clever humour or sarcastic asides. Marian Keyes has virtually created a monopoly out of the style, but Moran does it just as well. She also gives Anna – the cocaine snorting scene being a good example − those shifts of perspectives and a burgeoning maturity that happens once someone is over the age of 30, without patronising those in their twenties, at the same time. Writing in the first person like Keyes often does, Moran is similarly able to give Anna perceptive insights into her own behaviour and self-absorption, making her an all too relatable mix of goody too-fabulous-shoes (shoe worship being mandatory in this genre) doing battle with her inner selfish minx.
The other characters are just as believable and well drawn, even the ones who are observed as humorous foils – Horst, the flatmate from Stuttgart is particularly endearing. Refreshing, also, is the nice guys outnumbering the bad boys – or at least matching them numerically − and it's no give away to say Anna has a fling with the later and ends up with the former. Other threads of the story are invariably as predictable but there are still enough twists to make you want to stick to the end to see it conclude happily before the weekend is out. This is a book you'll devour and then pass onto a girlfriend with a 'I think you'll really like this one.'
Determined to do as the adage says and not judge a book by its cover, I flicked to the first chapter to discern whether I could spend a weekend in bed – and give up sleep into the wee hours – for Stick or Twist. The opening gambit − 'Saturday mornings are the most menacing time. Teeth brushed and genitals soaped, this is the moment when 'monogamous man' stalks his prey.' - convinced me to buy a bottle of red to go with. Tick box one for engaging chic-lit – lots of pithy one-liners, wry observations and self-conscious clichés worked over with an original twist. Box two is a heroine 'just like us' (or close enough to relate) – Anna Christie has a job she's unsatisfied with, but she's still within a professional cooee of the glam and vacuous and she has a small circle of flawed and interesting, but loyal girlfriends. It sounds like a write-by-numbers book about a single and 30 something girl finding love in London and it is, but Moran starts the book off on a more original premise than most and she imbues Anna with so much emotional integrity that to say this book is a 'good' example of its genre is to woefully undersell its charms, much like the cover does.
Unlike Bridget and her moan clones, Anna has a great guy (an Aiden if you need a SATC point of reference) – a boyfriend of 10 years that's just proposed to her – only trouble is she's bored as flying marsupial droppings with him and the thought of marrying 'the one' is looking more like marital penury that happily ever after. She's not the dumped – a refreshing change in itself – but the dumpee and all the wretchedness that stems from leaving a long term partner for greener and steamier pastures is weighted with its due and true sentiments here, as Anna enters the inevitable dating fray for the first time in 10 years. The strength of Moran's writing is her ability to convey the mental and emotional anguish Anna is experiencing − picking up on those little things that anyone who's been there only knows too well - post break-up, without diffusing it too much with over-clever humour or sarcastic asides. Marian Keyes has virtually created a monopoly out of the style, but Moran does it just as well. She also gives Anna – the cocaine snorting scene being a good example − those shifts of perspectives and a burgeoning maturity that happens once someone is over the age of 30, without patronising those in their twenties, at the same time. Writing in the first person like Keyes often does, Moran is similarly able to give Anna perceptive insights into her own behaviour and self-absorption, making her an all too relatable mix of goody too-fabulous-shoes (shoe worship being mandatory in this genre) doing battle with her inner selfish minx.
The other characters are just as believable and well drawn, even the ones who are observed as humorous foils – Horst, the flatmate from Stuttgart is particularly endearing. Refreshing, also, is the nice guys outnumbering the bad boys – or at least matching them numerically − and it's no give away to say Anna has a fling with the later and ends up with the former. Other threads of the story are invariably as predictable but there are still enough twists to make you want to stick to the end to see it conclude happily before the weekend is out. This is a book you'll devour and then pass onto a girlfriend with a 'I think you'll really like this one.'
April 4, 2009
Synopsis from Google Books:
Name: Anna Christie
Age: Very, very early thirties
Marital status: Living with boyfriend
Sex: It's been a while. Maybe six weeks?
Career: Crafting sparkling features for magazine Casual Chic such as 'Man Boobs: Why No Marriage is Safe'
Current dilemma: What to do when your much loved boyfriend of ten years gets down on one knee and pops the question you've been secretly dreading?
Options: Stick - say yes, jump on the marriage bandwagon, accept that babies are now standard issue and always wonder if the grass is greener ...
OR Twist - walk away, move onto your best friend's sofa, pine for your ex but perk up once sexy and seemingly perfect Harry comes breezing into your life...
Hilarious, romantic and painfully honest, Stick or Twist proves that sometimes the most unlikely man turns out to be the One.
This is Eleanor Moran's first novel, where she introduces us to Anna, a commitment-phobe 30-something, who runs when her boyfriend of 10 years proposes to her. She thinks she is clean and dry until her magazine asks her to prepare a piece on weddings. She is thrown into the deep end, planning a glitzy event, meeting couples about to tie the knot, and attempting to stay ahead of her colleague, who is all about marriage and babies. Through this event she meets Harry, a gorgeous photographer, several years her junior and tries a relationship with him while she attempts to piece her life together. However, she has told one-too-many lies and they all come out at once, leaving her once again scrabbling to pick up the pieces. She forms unlikely friendships and finds love with an unlikely soul...
To be honest, I didn't really enjoy this book. It was just mediocre chick-lit. It wasn't particularly grabbing and fairly predictible. There wasn't anything original or outstanding about the storyline, it was just another bog-standard female fiction book.
I wasn't overly impressed with the characters. None of them held my interest, least of all Anna, who was just a compulsive liar. I didn't really feel sympathy for her. In fact I didn't feel sympathy for any of the characters.
I was glad when I had finished the book, purely because it was over. There really wasn't anything special about the book, which is a shame. Although not a dire book, it just didn't jump out and hold my attention.
6/10
Name: Anna Christie
Age: Very, very early thirties
Marital status: Living with boyfriend
Sex: It's been a while. Maybe six weeks?
Career: Crafting sparkling features for magazine Casual Chic such as 'Man Boobs: Why No Marriage is Safe'
Current dilemma: What to do when your much loved boyfriend of ten years gets down on one knee and pops the question you've been secretly dreading?
Options: Stick - say yes, jump on the marriage bandwagon, accept that babies are now standard issue and always wonder if the grass is greener ...
OR Twist - walk away, move onto your best friend's sofa, pine for your ex but perk up once sexy and seemingly perfect Harry comes breezing into your life...
Hilarious, romantic and painfully honest, Stick or Twist proves that sometimes the most unlikely man turns out to be the One.
This is Eleanor Moran's first novel, where she introduces us to Anna, a commitment-phobe 30-something, who runs when her boyfriend of 10 years proposes to her. She thinks she is clean and dry until her magazine asks her to prepare a piece on weddings. She is thrown into the deep end, planning a glitzy event, meeting couples about to tie the knot, and attempting to stay ahead of her colleague, who is all about marriage and babies. Through this event she meets Harry, a gorgeous photographer, several years her junior and tries a relationship with him while she attempts to piece her life together. However, she has told one-too-many lies and they all come out at once, leaving her once again scrabbling to pick up the pieces. She forms unlikely friendships and finds love with an unlikely soul...
To be honest, I didn't really enjoy this book. It was just mediocre chick-lit. It wasn't particularly grabbing and fairly predictible. There wasn't anything original or outstanding about the storyline, it was just another bog-standard female fiction book.
I wasn't overly impressed with the characters. None of them held my interest, least of all Anna, who was just a compulsive liar. I didn't really feel sympathy for her. In fact I didn't feel sympathy for any of the characters.
I was glad when I had finished the book, purely because it was over. There really wasn't anything special about the book, which is a shame. Although not a dire book, it just didn't jump out and hold my attention.
6/10
April 26, 2012
The main plus point was Anna - a witty and clever character, although she doesn't always sense the right thing when it comes to love. The story is ok, with some good comedic moments thrown in, but i felt the supporting characters could have been developed more.
http://chocolatedigestivebiscuit.blog...
http://chocolatedigestivebiscuit.blog...
August 11, 2016
A very typical "Kiss a few frogs before finding Mr Right" chick-lit. A fairly predictable, simple read - there were parts I really liked and parts I really didn't (the career project talk - god, how dull). Overall, a good light read. Nothing to write home about. Vague of me? Yes. But there isn't an awful lot to really say apart from a very unimaginative "An okay read".
June 22, 2009
This book was actually given to me by my friend, Nourhan.
It was a highly enjoyable read and it's a nice book to indulge in when you just want to escape from the realms of reality and forget your own problems. Very funny and witty.
It was a highly enjoyable read and it's a nice book to indulge in when you just want to escape from the realms of reality and forget your own problems. Very funny and witty.
September 11, 2015
Really enjoyed this book. Good main character, realistic aspects, fun twists and an unsoppy ending.
July 19, 2016
Usual Chick lit fodder
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews