Peeking Between the Pages

...escape into the pages of a good book

Book Review: Holly’s Inbox by Holly Denham (Bill Surie)

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Holly’s Inbox by Holly Denham (a.k.a. Bill Surie) has got to be the most fun I’ve had reading a book in a while. Have you ever closed the last page of a novel and wanted to open it back up right away and start over? That’s exactly how I felt about Holly’s Inbox! It is done in the manner of Bridget Jone’s Diary which I also loved – I think I just really like getting in on a person’s inner most goings on and being snoopy.

Of course this is chick-lit through and through and I love a good dose of it once in a while and a good dose is what you’ll get at 665 pages. If you’re anything like me though, you will all of a sudden drag your eyes from the page long enough to find out that you’re already a few hundred pages in and you’ll be shocked. This book goes so fast and in some ways that made me sad because I really wanted more still. I cracked up laughing so many times and got a few strange looks in the process. I loved the format in the email style – such a unique way of writing a book but so easy to read and enjoy. Anyhow, I’m thinking that there may be a sequel in the works though and I can’t wait for it if there is!

Holly is such a likeable character and she has a crazy set of friends and family to go along with her wackiness. Holly has just started a job at a prestigious bank in London as a receptionist and is trying her hardest to pretend she has a clue what she’s doing. You see she may have lied just a little bit in order to get this job. She meets fellow receptionist Trish and at first they don’t exactly have a great relationship. Holly is positive that Trish hates her. Soon enough though between all the emails they start hitting it off and their conversations are hilarious.

Holly’s friends are crazy. There’s Jason, her gay friend who is her anchor in everything – he’s her go to guy for advice and he just seems to be a darling. Then there’s Aisha who I can only describe as quite trampy but hilarious. Even while being stunned at some of the things she could come up with I was still busting a gut. Then there’s Holly’s mum who I think I would have to consider strangling – she must be the world’s biggest meddler. Her sister and husband raise snakes and who knows what else and her brother is running a fetish nightclub – enough said there. Oh and I can’t forget her Granny – she was one of my favorites! Oh man, I laughed so hard at some of her antics especially as she’s just been introduced to the Internet and is having a jolly good time with it at Holly’s expense. All I can say without spoiling anything further is there are a ton of laughs to be had in the correspondence of all these people.

Even though this is done in an email format it’s amazing how invested you find yourself in Holly’s life. I had no problem getting to know her, her past, what she wants and even her feelings. All of the people felt so true to life and I had no problem thinking that all of this could really happen in real life. Things continue on and get spicy when Holly begins dating an executive in the bank and later when an old ex-boyfriend shows up to work at the bank as well. All of this combined kept me turning those pages at an amazing rate of speed.

Now to what really surprised me. The author of Holly’s Inbox is actually a man! Oh yes, it is. For a man to be able to write a chick-lit book like this really surprised me and I think takes a lot of writing talent to portray a woman’s thoughts and feelings as well as he did. If you haven’t had a chance to read Holly’s Inbox yet, you really should. You’ll be in for a treat. It’s a fantastic romp through Holly’s Denham’s life through her personal emails and it’s one you won’t soon forget. I do have to mention that there is some frank talk in the book and bad language although it’s not spelled out completely (very cute). I’m not easily offended whatsoever but some are so I thought I’d put that out there. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this book. It would make the perfect summer read, not to mention it’s completely addictive!

I should mention as well that Holly’s Inbox started out as a website and you can check it out here. As well, you can buy Holly’s Inbox here in the US and here in Canada. Many thanks to Bill Surie and Sourcebooks for my copy of Holly’s Inbox. Be sure to check back tomorrow as Bill Surie is going to visit Peeking Between the Pages with a great guest post!

Other blogland reviews: Trish’s Reading Nook, A Novel Menagerie, Diary of an Eccentric, Melissa’s Bookshelf, Bookfoolery and Babble ( I admit, I swiped these from Trish although I do know that you all wrote reviews-lol)

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  2. I know what you mean. With me it is a mild trauma to find a book which will live up to such a read and sometimes it takes me a while of paging through books to find a book I hope will keep my attention. Which I am doing now. by the way

    I will put this book on my wish list

  4. Wasn't this a great book? I couldn't believe how fast I read it and I want more! I hope there's a sequel.

  5. I have heard such good things about this book. Amazing that it started out as a website.

  7. I felt the exact same way about this book! I loved it so much and finished it in two days!

    I loved how all of the little details in the e-mails may seem insignificant at first, but then they pop up at the most unexpected places.

    Excellent review!

  8. I so need to read this book! It sounds so funny,and I will love to see how a man has written it

  9. I'm looking forward to reading this one. It sounds like a fun read. I can see how it can become addictive and I love when that happens! 🙂

  11. Dar, you have me thoroughly convinced that I should read this book! The characters sound wonderful! I think stories told thru emails are the new trend in books – brilliant! Glad you enjoyed this one so much and thanks for the recommendation!

  12. I'm glad you loved it because this one's going to the beach with me! I can't wait to read it.

  14. I've been seeing this everywhere and everyone seems to love it. I think I'm slowly being worn down and may have to pick it up.

  16. Great review–I'm sold. Of course, the minute you compared it to Bridget Jones, I was sold!

  17. I have been hesitant to get this since it is written by a man, but you erased my doubts!

  19. I knew you were going to be posting about this book, so when I was drafting my post I kept checking my google reader to see if your post had gone up yet so I could link to it. Done that now.

    I was really surprised at how much I liked this book and I could have taken another hundred pages of the book as well. I was kind of disappointed that some of the storylines got dropped, but maybe they'll come back in the sequel? Like Trisha's doctor's appointment!! And I was also very confused when Bill emailed me–took me some digging to find out that he was the author. 🙂

    Glad you had fun, too!

  20. I'd like a sequel, too! I think there is going to be one. But, I can't say I'm positive about that.

    Sheri

  21. I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed this one…I said this to Trish too but I have it patiently waiting for me to get to it. Soon I hope 🙂

  22. I really didn't notice that the author was male..til you mentioned it!

    Sounds fun and I really hope I can get to it 🙂

  23. I'm expecting to get to Holly's Inbox soon – I've been really looking forward to it, and now that I've read your review, I don't think I'll be able to resist starting it from the moment the package shows up here!

  24. Great review! Thanks for linking to mine, I've added yours to my list as well. I'm looking forward to reading the guest post tomorrow!!

  25. I love that the author is a man, as it helps defeat the assumption that men and women are completely different. As I was telling Trish yesterday, though this is different from the books I normally pick up, it sounds like one I'd enjoy!

  26. Chick lit written by a man sounds very interesting to me, and after reading your review I think I may have to check out this book for myself. I'm glad you enjoyed it so much. Great review as well!

  27. So maybe chick-lit by a man is the right chick-lit for me! Normally I shy away from the genre but Holly's Inbox looks awesome, I like the unique style of this one. Thanks for the great review!

  30. everyone seems to love this book and Bill is a doll. I have anna's copy waiting for me to read…maybe this will provide me with some more incentive.