In the Bag Review

In the Bag

Kate Klise

Rating (out of 5): 3.5

Genre:Chick-lit

Release Date: May 1, 2012

Series: None

Series Volume:N/A

Profanity: Mild

Violence: None

Sexual Content:Very Mild

Age Recommendation: 17 +

Author Website:http://www.kateandsarahklise.com/





Summary:

Bestselling YA author Kate Klise flies high with her first novel for grown-ups. In the Bag is You’ve Got Mail meets The Parent Trap in the 21st century—an absolutely enthralling story of globe-hopping, lost luggage, found opportunities…and the old-fashioned art of flirtation in a modern world. Told from the alternating perspectives of two single parents and their two teenage children, In the Bag is warm and witty, surprising, stylish, and smart contemporary women’s fiction for fans of Jennifer Weiner, Jane Green, and Megan McCafferty. Kate Klise’s sparkling career as a novelist for adults has taken glorious flight!

Review:

I stumbled upon this book while I was looking for information on a different series Kate Klise had worked on, her delightful 43 Old Cemetery Road books for children. I like her children’s books so much that I jumped at the chance to read a book by her that was geared for an older audience. Kate once again managed to tell me a story from a completely unique perspective. In the Bag follows the lives of four different people, two adults and two teens, as they bumble their way through an airport and into three different cities.  

Kate Klise’s unique style in telling this story was really what drew me to read the book, the story itself is a light easy read that I would normally pick up only if I knew I had a long period of waiting before me, like a plane ride for instance. But the fact that she wrote a story geared towards both adults and young adults intrigued me. Half of the time I was reading it I felt like I was making my way through a YA and the other half of the time I was enjoying those rare moments where I delve into adult geared books. I loved it. Kate Klise did an excellent job blending the two styles together to deliver a fun easy read. 

Like I said earlier the story was a light chick-lit styled tale of four people trying to find love. But it also deals with some heavier tones in the realm of parents trying to connect with their kids and vice versa. It also dabbles in the area of deciding what one really wants out of life and learning to relax a little and let things happen. Kate Klise did a great job with each of these areas and really made this light story something both believable and relatable. 

I found myself immediately attached to Coco and surprisingly to Andrew. Daisy, Coco’s mother and Andrew’s son Webb took a little longer to grow on me but by the end of the book I had fallen in love with them all. The characters each have their own quirks and distinct personalities and you can defiantly tell the difference between the parents and their children while reading through this book. But like I said earlier, the distinct style is what drew me into the book and kept me reading until the end. 

There were however a few problems I had with the book.  I didn’t like the surprising amount of swear words used at the very beginning of the book. The rest of the story is very light language wise and so having so many at the opening made it feel off balance. Having read Kate’s children’s stories and the fact that this book could easily be picked up not only by an adult audience but also by a YA once as well I expected it to be a little cleaner than it first appeared. There were a few other minor things that bothered me as well about this book, but overall it was a good read.

This was a light fun read for older teens and adults but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone under 17. There aren’t any sex scenes but there is some talk of sex and I already mentioned the language in the beginning. Other than that this was a fun easy read.

~Dawn