I finished reading James Patterson's “Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas” last night and immediately wanted to talk about it. Patterson is a best seller of what seems every book he writes, so I had certain expectations. This would explain why I was somewhat surprised by how... not great it was. I looked online to see if others shared my views and I found it had very divided comments; some gave it a 5+ and have cherished it since it was printed in 2001 and others thought the best place for it was as fuel for a bonfire. Despite not really loving it, I can't agree with either of these dramatic reviews and here's why.
SPOILERS NOW
The story starts after Katie gets dumped by Matt, the man of her dreams, from what seemed the perfect relationship for no apparent reason. (It was at this point I realized I picked up a romance novel, but that’s neither here nor there.) She goes to the Hudson River to relive a date she had with Matt or something and takes note that men start eyeing her. In spite of the obvious sexual attention, she then talks about how she's too tall and "gawky" and that she genuinely believes people look at her "for all the wrong reasons."
Right away, I thought, great, another “perfect” woman who’s beautiful but doesn’t know it. This is where my main criticism of the book starts forming. She goes home and get's a package that contains a diary from Matt's ex-wife. Here we dive into the story where we learn about Suzanne and how perfect she is. And boy, she is perfect. Aside from perhaps working so hard she has a heart attack, nothing about Suzanne really stands out as a flaw. Actually, neither Katie nor Suzanne have any major character flaws. Everything they do that could be considered a flaw is endearing. Suzanne is a truly hard worker (and incredibly smart and humble to boot). Katie has a hard time telling her parents and Matt she’s pregnant... which I don’t think could be considered a flaw but is the only thing I could think to write. It’s almost as if this book was written by a man who’s heterosexual and therefore fantasizes about what traits are most desirable in women and writes them into characters. Huh.
The progression of the story I actually had no problem with. I enjoyed diving in to Suzanne’s world and coming up into Katie’s. I did find myself interested to learn what happened to Matt’s family, even though I guessed what had happened almost immediately because it was blaringly obvious. Still, I wanted to know how. So, that was neat. The love Suzanne showers Nicholas is lovely to read, even if it does continue to do nothing but highlight how perfect Suzanne is. AAND here we are again with why this book was not so awesome.
The whole time Patterson is trying to make you tear up while leading you up to a big cry. Patterson tries too hard to get you to like Suzanne and even Katie in order to make a tearjerker that whips you through the entire book. I cried a few times, sure, but when we discover what happened when Suzanne had her final heart attack I didn’t feel anything because by then you realize how vapid the characters are and that the whole book was like a piece of toast who’s only purpose is to cram as much butter into your gullet as possible. Then there’s the ending where Matt mimics Suzanne’s kneeling for forgiveness and does it in public so the whole world can see, which is just so... cringy; especially because it’s trying to get you to cry again. I curled up inside and was done for good at that point.
Had the characters portrayed qualities that were mean, passive aggressive, irritating, just SOMETHING not cute or pleasant, I would be able to relate to them, which you could argue creates emphathy, though that may be for a lack of a better word. Now that I think about it, even the side characters don’t really have negative traits except for those who are catalysts for more tear jerking moments (like the people driving the truck that hit Gus). If I could relate to them, it would make me far more invested into the character’s emotions, rather than just curious about what happened to them in general while feeling some sympathy. Empathy creates far greater emotion by definition.
Anyway, I pointed out for the most part why the book wasn’t wonderful. However, the other aspects I quite enjoyed, which brings me to my main point for writing this. “Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas” by James Patterson doesn’t deserve a 1/5 stars or a 5/5. I’d place it at a ‘worth reading once’ out of ‘it goes in the home library’. What would that be? 2.5/5?
