Review: Yours Cheerfully (by A.J. Pearce)

My Rating: 3.5 stars

I definitely enjoyed this sequel much more than the first book, Dear Mrs. Bird, which I had read right before this one.  While the story continued more or less where the first one left off and the characters were all the same (with the exception of Mrs. Bird of course), I think I took to this book better perhaps because I kind of knew what to expect already — and perhaps that's also why I found the main character Emmy Lake a little less annoying this time around (though yes, she did still frustrate me at certain points).

With Mrs Bird's departure from Women's Friend magazine (not a spoiler, as it's in the book summary and she's already gone when the story opens), Mr. Collins has been promoted to Editor (no surprise there either, lol).  After what happened at the end of the first book, Emmy is back with the magazine again, but on a probationary basis.  While the magazine's advice column continues to be a focus, the crux of the story this time around is on the government's call to all of Britain's women's magazines to help recruit female workers for the war effort.  As Emmy immerses herself in this task, she meets a few of the women who work at the munitions factories and soon realizes that, while they are all happy to contribute to the effort, there are real-life challenges they face that makes the war work much more difficult for them.  When Emmy learns about their plight, she of course steps in and tries to help them any which way she can.

I think the direction that the author A.J. Pearce took with the story as well as with the characters this time around made so much more sense than the first book.  I'm not sure how best to put it, but I felt like most of Emmy's actions in the first book were too over the top, to the point that it felt unrealistic and contrived.  With this second go around though, her actions were more in line with her role in the sense that it made sense for her to constantly insert herself in situations, but in a more tempered way.  Just for the record…I don't have a problem with Emmy's personality — in fact, I like the way her character was headstrong, curious, assertive, and always willing to stand up for what she believed in as well as help others, which was especially significant given the time period — what I actually had a problem with was the "bull in a china shop" approach that she seemed to apply to every single situation, especially at work.  For example, in the first book, Emmy's job as a newbie at the magazine was to open letters and give them to her boss to review and type up a response, however because she doesn't like the restrictive (and rude) nature of her boss's responses, she decides to take matters into her own hands by deliberately defying her boss's instructions and writing letters to readers on her own (as well as sneaking some of her letters into the magazine itself).  While it's fine to disagree and question how her boss does things, it's not fine, especially in her position, to go in and start changing things on her own (obviously, there were more rational ways to approach the situation than the way she did).  In the second book, I assume because she has learned her lesson, Emmy's approach was a little more mature and above board (and as I mentioned earlier, definitely less grating on my nerves).  I point all this out because I appreciate seeing characters grow and evolve in stories and even though in this case, it took a sequel for it to happen, I'm still glad to see it.

For those who read and loved Dear Mrs. Bird, I definitely recommend picking this one up, as I believe you'll love it just as much as the first (maybe even more).  For those like me who may not have been a fan of the first book, I still recommend reading this one, as it did put the first book into better perspective for me (even though it didn't change my feelings overall toward the story and characters).

Received ARC from Scribner via NetGalley.

Review: Dear Mrs. Bird (by A.J. Pearce)

My Rating:  3 stars

I had actually heard about this book when it first came out several years ago, but never got the chance to read it.  A few months ago, I was approved for an ARC of the sequel -- since I'm the type who MUST read books in a series in order (even if the books can technically be read as stand-alones), I of course had to go back and read book one first before picking up the second one.  Overall, I found this one to be a quick read that was both delightful and fun but also serious when it needed to be (not an easy feat given the fact that the story is set against the backdrop of World War II) -- though having said that, I did have some issues with parts of it (which I will get into later). 

The story revolves around a young woman named Emmeline (Emmy) Lake who, with all the men off fighting the war, wants to do her part to help the war effort.  She volunteers at the call center for the Fire Brigade, but what she really wants to do is become a journalist reporting on the war (or, as she puts it, a "Lady War Correspondent").  When she sees an advertisement in the newspaper for a part-time Junior at the publishing house for the newspaper The London Evening Chronicle, she jumps at the opportunity to interview, thinking this will be her big opportunity to finally get her foot in the door for her dream job.  But it turns out the job is actually for one of the magazines managed under the publishing house -- a small publication called Woman's Friend that is already on its last legs.  What's worse though is that the position is specifically to go through letters sent in to the magazine's problem page Henrietta Helps, run by the formidable Mrs. Henrietta Bird, who refuses to answer any letters that fit into the category of what she feels is "Unpleasantness" (there is actually a long list with very specific words and topics that are off-limits -- basically the only "safe" topics are things like asking for knitting instructions or beauty advice).  Emmy is disappointed and constantly chides herself for not listening during the interview, causing her to accept a job that's a far cry from what she expected -- but with her cheery and optimistic personality, she decides to make a go of it.  As she immerses herself in her job, she reads the letters of some of the readers (mostly women) and starts to feel genuinely sorry for them, seeing all they have to deal with during this trying time.  She wants to help them, but unfortunately, nearly every single letter falls into the Unpleasantness category (which means Mrs. Bird won't bother responding and the letters get thrown in the trash bin) -- so Emmy takes matters into her own hands and starts writing back to the readers herself (though still signing all the letters with Mrs. Bird's name).  She even manages to sneak a few of the "Unpleasant" letters and her responses to them into the magazine itself.  Will she be found out though and if so, what will happen to her?  This is a question that lingers over Emmy throughout the story (which of course, gets resolved in the end).

There was actually a lot to like about the story and I feel like the author A.J. Pearce did a good job with the writing, using the language of the particular time and place to make the story more immersive (I definitely felt transported to 1940s England).  Also, all the characters were likable, the overall mood of the story was heartwarming and hopeful, the historical elements were well-incorporated, and the letters were a fun read.  I also appreciated the way the story paid tribute to the women of that era and their efforts during the war.  With all that said though, my main complaint is that I felt the story was a bit too saccharine and overdone in some areas, to the point of being somewhat cringe-worthy (to me at least).  In terms of the characters, while I did like them for the most part, I didn't really feel any connection to them -- especially the main character Emmy, whom I found to be charming at first, but then when she kept endlessly inserting herself into everyone's business (in a way that I felt was a bit pretentious and self-righteous), I started becoming annoyed with her.  I mean, I get that she has good intentions and always wants to help people, but the way she goes about it is too over-the-top, for one, and two, it just didn't seem realistic (meaning how she is able to get away with it time and time again and it's all still "fine and dandy" with everyone).  I think Emmy herself put it best during one scene in the story when she mentions (in her mind, since the story is told from her first-person perspective) that she was trying "desperately to look like a sensible grownup rather than a petulant child" -- that's pretty much exactly how Emmy came across throughout the entire story:  like a naive, petulant child even though she was very much an adult.  Unfortunately, this is exactly the type of character (adults acting like children) that I often can't stand in books, so with the main character being that way throughout the entire story pretty much (plus the story being told from this character's first person perspective didn't help), it definitely detracted from the reading experience for me. 

Having said all that, I still want to read the sequel, since I did like the story overall as I mentioned earlier.  At least this time around, I know what to expect in terms of Emmy, so I can refocus my reading if needed (and hopefully become less annoyed).