Jennifer Weiner's book The Next Best Thing was an enjoyable, quick read. Set in Hollywood, it is a story about a writer who finally gets her chance to have a show on television. The book is more about Ruth discovering herself and trying to find her own happily every after.
Ruth's parents died in a car accident when she was a toddler. In that same accident, she was severely injured and left with scars that would require many surgeries over the years and leave her face and body permanently marred. She has spent her life, with her loving grandmother, learning to overcome her physical differences and learning to live with the pain and isolation that comes from being so visibly scarred.
She and her grandmother pick up and leave Boston in search of Ruth's dream of being a writer. She gets a job, falls in love a couple of times, has her heart broken, and makes some friends. When her idea for a show gets green lighted for a pilot it seems as if her life is about to change for the better. But then she sees the truth in how TV gets made. Can she compromise with the network without losing what her show was supposed to be about? Can she become a successful television writer and showrunner and maintain her own sense of herself? And will she find her happily ever after, too?
The storyline was enjoyable, but the characters are the ones who really shine in this book. They are so real, flawed and imperfectly perfect and the reader finds herself rooting for them every step of the way. Typical Jennifer Weiner magic.
Happy Reading!
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