Mini Review | Bridget Jones' Diary by Helen Fielding

Bridget Jones' Diary by Helen Fielding
Series: Bridget Jones #1
Published On: June 1, 1998
Published By: Picador
Genre: Chick Lit
Pages: 288
Format: eBook
Source: Bought
Rating: ★★★

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Bridget Jones' Diary is the devastatingly self-aware, laugh-out-loud daily chronicle of Bridget's permanent, doomed quest for self-improvement — a year in which she resolves to: reduce the circumference of each thigh by 1.5 inches, visit the gym three times a week not just to buy a sandwich, form a functional relationship with a responsible adult, and learn to program the VCR.

Quick, fun read.
This is no literary masterpiece but it was fast-paced, funny and just generally fun to read. I read the majority of this book on a train journey and had to try very hard to stop myself laughing out loud in front of a very full train of complete strangers, it was a struggle.

I wasn't sure of the way it was written.
As the title suggest, this book is written in diary format. I usually really love that but I had some difficulties with it in this book. It was written very informally, as if it was actually a diary. I understand that its meant to add to the story and make it seem as though you are actually reading Bridget's diary but I found it very difficult to read. I particularly disliked the fact the way that words were missed out of sentences. For example, "Cannot face thought of going to work" is one sentence in the book. I really struggled to read a whole book written like that.

Major issues with weight discussions.
Bridget's weight is a large focus of much of this book and it is often discussed that she believes herself to be very fat and very much needing to loose weight. We then learn of her current weight...9 stone. In what universe is 9 stone "fat"? That is my current weight and I would definitely not consider myself to be overweight at all, so that aspect of the book actually made me quite angry. I'm sure that won't be at all helpful in promoting positive body image.

I prefer the movie.
I had seen the movie multiple times before reading the book, but I don't think that affected my enjoyment of the book at all. However, I think this is one of the few cases in which I prefer the movie. There is much less emphasised placed on weight in the movie so, as that is the one thing I had a major issue with in the book, that is a big influencer in my preference for the movie.

Overall, this was a very quick read and I did enjoy it for the most part. I did have some issues with it, which definitely affected my rating, but if you can overlook those aspects then it is an enjoyable read. I may try to read further books in the series at some point but there's a good chance I'll just stick to the movies from now on.