Review by MCMXII -- Randy Love...at your service

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MCMXII
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Latest Review: Randy Love...at your service by Shay Carter

Review by MCMXII -- Randy Love...at your service

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[Following is a volunteer review of "Randy Love...at your service" by Shay Carter.]
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2 out of 4 stars
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It is interesting to see that the writer delves right into the story. He does not bother to set the pace or rouse questions by building a mystery. In the preface, we are immediately introduced to the features and disposition of the Love family, but two of the children, Heather and Randy stood out to me.


Heather, the oldest of the three Love children is a young ambitious architect who was unhappy with being passed over at work while her colleagues were given proper tasks, so she immediately set out to change the situation by revamping herself. She put in some effort to align her looks with her disposition in order to get her co-workers to take her seriously and earn some respect at work. It brought to mind the saying "you dress up how you want to be addressed". In as much as i liked her new style, it still was unfortunate that she had to go through such lengths to kill any trait that could be perceived as "weakness" to measure up to her colleagues, especially the men. Either way, it worked and things took a turn for the better for her at the firm. It would've been preferable to see her character more incorporated into the story, but it was limited.


Randy, the last child. I did not particularly like that Randy, alongside his friends and some other male characters objectified the women and assessed their bodies, like they were solely for the purpose of sex, especially in Chapter Ten, where, through his assessment, he displayed sheer disrespect to the women he met at the bar. That aside, he comes off as a restless, mischievous and funny character who did not appreciate pressure. I wouldn't go so far as to call him a free spirit, because I found him to be highly irresponsible.


"She insists on drinking that powdered muck they only sell in Poundland. I’m sure it comes from the third world, and even then it’s what they sweep off the floor at the end of the day."
The above commentary was made to Randy by his friend, Andy, when Gemma, a flatmate of theirs, offered to brew him some tea. It implies that the drink was not quality and therefore had to be a product of the third world. I found his character quite offensive and that particular excerpt to be condescending and very disrespectful.


For the most of the book, it seemed like Randy was just a "freeloader". Apart from his move from Milton to London for better career prospects, he spent his free time drinking, goofing, having sex and couldn't seem to settle permanently into a home. The cycle becomes boring read after a while. Even worse, the end of it left me feeling like the writer could have done better.


In all, even though the story lacks a climax, Randy's antics made it entertaining enough for a leisure read.

I rate it 2 out of 4 points.

******
Randy Love...at your service
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