Stuck in Downward Dog

Mara Brennan needs to get her life together. She has been dumped by her live in boyfriend, who moved out of their tiny basement apartment and took everything with him, including her bed and her self-confidence. She is working at a dead-end job as a receptionist at a cosmetic clinic, and her overbearing sister has taken up residence with her to try to cheer her up after the break-up. Meanwhile, her best friends, Olivia and Mitz, are living the perfect lives with their boyfriends and husbands and dazzling careers. Mara can't help but feel she is missing out on being able to host her own dinner parties, get a fabulous career, and perfecting her yoga poses. Mara makes her OM List (Olivia and Mitz List) to try to become a better person and more like her friends. While trying to check off the items such as hosting the best dinner party and becoming a fabulous chef, Mara realizes a few important details. She has a tiny apartment not suitable for hosting parties, and she hates cooking. She also realizes that Olivia and Mitz's lives may not be so fabulous after all, once cracks begin to show between the three friends. Through it all, she finds a supportive a family that thinks incredibly highly of her, and figures out how she can help her perfect sister through a personal crisis. Stuck in Downward Dog, the debut novel from Chantel Simmons was an excellent story of trying to find oneself. The challenges that Mara was facing are completely relatable, and the humorous journey of her identity makeover made me laugh throughout. I do have say the beginning started off a bit slow; the plot didn't start to excite me until about half way in, but once it hit that point I couldn't put it down! One aspect I really enjoyed about the novel is that it didn't end with the heroine finding herself by getting a boyfriend. I thought that was really inspiring and even more motivating to readers, sending a message that women can be powerful with their careers and selves without being married. A favorite book of mine and a define recommendation to all.

I rarely EVER read a book twice. I made an exception with this one. I had read this book a few years back and enjoyed it, but thought it would be fun to re-read it again since I have personally discovered the joys of Yoga and Pilates. This book entertained me as much the first time as the second time! Our main character Mara is basically a HUGE wimp! She coasts through life - up to the point where she gets home one day (to her dingy little basement apt) to find that the movers are there. Yep, her boyfriend has left her and moved to Calgary and taken ALL the furniture (including Mara's bed). So what does Mara do???? She basically sits on a makeshift box and stares at the floor for a while. After some time, she decides to share her news with her two best friends. Let me tell you, if I had two best friends like that AND a boyfriend who left me and took my bed, I would be a little depressed myself. We are introduced to Mara's two friends, Olivia and Mitz who are best described as hum! let's see - shallow and self-absorbed. We are also introduced to Mara's male (and gay) friend Bradford who, in my opinion, is the only likeable character in this whole storyline. Mara works at a job she hates and yet, she needs extra money so she starts working as a receptionist at a yoga studio. This is when things really got interesting to me. Mara starts getting involved in the art of yoga and decides that she needs to change her life and creates an OM list (to do list). As she checks things off her list (i.e. paint the apt, have a diner party), things go from bad to worse. I mean, this girl is seriously lacking in all life skills. Yet, through all the entire book, there is something entirely likable about Mara and her desire to better herself. I am not fond of the initial reasons she has for doing this (to impress her friends) but what makes this book so readable is that you can actually see Mara's evolution from wimpy little people pleaser to a woman who finally figures out that she is worth something and does not need to always put herself down and settle for third best - and she gains much of this wisdom through her love of yoga (which is the one thing that is a constant for Mara). I loved the way this book is writ en - this is chick lit at its best. If you like coming of age stories enter twined with chick lit (not one sex scene in the whole book) and a love of yoga -then this is your book. Extra bonus for us Canadians who live in Toronto or have visited Toronto so much that we know the city very well (my case), the storyline takes place in Toronto. Buy this one.

I initially bought this book just because of the title - been there/done that kind of thing - but I found that it is a wonderful read and I have added this author to my list of favorites. This is a great "girls" book. The character is young and floundering, so those in the 20-30 range will relate, and those in the older range will remember! It is full of funny situations, funny lines, and just good tight writing.