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1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 The season's best bridal shower gift........ May 14, 2008
By Kimberly Ripley
"writerippublishing"
If you have yet to read something by Zara Stevens it's high time you did. In Boy Meets Girl, she'll evoke emotions you'd thought had long since become defunct.
The book is comprised of several short stories. Stevens begins by introducing us to Sophie on the evening of her "Hen Party" prior to her wedding, then enchants us with tales of seven of Sophie's closest friends, and how each of them reached the pinnacle of holy matrimony.
These stories will make you laugh, make you cry, and make you truly understand the bond that comes from women sharing their deepest feelings.
This would make a fun and unique gift for a bridal shower! (After all, just how many toasters will one bride need?) Wrap it up in a gift basket with a bottle of wine or champagne and a duo of fancy flutes. Yours will be the best loved gift at the party!
 More, please Dec 01, 2008
By Krista T.
Pocketful of Wedding Stories is a varied collection of not only ceremonial traditions but also glimpses into how culture could shape otherwise ordinary actions and situations in a relationship. Little known details from each of the traditions made them real rather than cliche, and I found myself smiling during many of the stories and even gasped out loud and shed a few tears at others. Some of the characters have popped into my mind during the course of a regular day well after reading about them, which says that their stories could be made into novellas of their own -- which I hope the author is considering, because I would certainly buy one. Nicely done.
A great read for prospective brides (and grooms!) Jul 28, 2008
By Christopher L. Brockman
"Chris Brockman"
Boy Meets Girl: A Pocketful of Wedding Stories
Zara Stevens's Boy Meets Girl is a unique and, I think, valuable addition to the pre-marriage literature for young women. As with the book's protagonist, Sophie, Boy Meets Girl could relieve the anxiety of a bride-to-be (or groom, for that matter) by putting the nature of weddings into perspective. More positively, the book's wedding stories could contribute to the romance, ceremony, and anticipation of the affair.
Sophie is contemplating her imminent wedding and concludes: "Weddings are just our way of making sex more respectable." This is her defense against the frustration of preparing her own wedding and fear that it might not turn out as she wants.
Sophie has, in six years working for the U.N., made good friends with young women from around the world. At her "Hen's Night" (Stevens is Australian--in the U.S. this would be the bachelorette party), Sophie's friends tell the stories of their own weddings. Told in third person and presented as short stories, these vignettes accomplish two major purposes in addition to the ones mentioned above.
First, they convey information about the wedding customs of India, Vietnam, Mexico, Italy, Iran, Kenya, and Japan. Interesting as this is, it would still be pretty dry if presented as plain exposition. Stevens, however, makes the information an integral part of the stories, and it's the stories themselves that immediately become the source of interest.
One quickly becomes involved in the tale of Ashna's, who despite having a successful career as a modern Indian woman, at twenty-five is an embarrassment to her family, who pressure her into an arranged marriage. The tension of this arrangement turns the reader's thoughts to the nature of marriage and how it ought to be.
The stories continue, some of them joyous, some of them tragic. The one from Kenya, which begins with the fourteen year-old bride-to-be undergoing female circumcision to prepare her for her marriage, is guaranteed to provoke a strong reaction and some serious thought.
The writing, here, is simple. The stories are allowed to tell themselves without a lot of floridity or intervention of author's opinion, and the wedding information fits seamlessly into the narrative. The combination works well. The reader becomes easily involved in the women's stories, but not so much so that she can't quickly switch back and compare it to her own story.
The one caveat I have with Boy Meets Girl is that while it purports to be about weddings, it strays implicitly into the idea and nature of marriage. This could be a bit confusing. Though weddings often are reflections of the principals' idea of marriage, they certainly aren't always in the U.S., and I'm sure this is true around the world. The good thing is that Boy Meets Girl ought to get readers thinking about both.
Boy Meets Girl A Pocketful of Wedding Stories Jul 04, 2008
By Debby Olsen
After reading Zara Stevens, Boy Meets Girl, A Pocketful of Wedding Stories, I am very proud for my first review to be this book!
It is many wonderful stories of eight friends and their individual wedding experiences. Some beyond beautiful, almost like a faery tale, some very sad, but all in their own very unique traditions of the countries they are from!
First the book begins with a girl named Sophie, an Administrative Consultant for the UN, who is in the process of planning her own wedding, then in turn tells the very different individual stories of her 7 friends (Ashna from India, Mai from Vietnam, Lucia from Mexico, Antonia from Italy, Aliyeh from Iran, Kanida from Kenya and Mayu from Japan) weddings. She ends the book back at Sophie's Wedding, which I felt made a very nice closure to the book!
You will find parts where you want to laugh out loud and other times that may bring tears to your eyes from the sadness, but most of all you will see all of the similarities to our own traditions, and the very different traditions of many countries that we have trouble understanding.
I must praise Zara Stevens's unique and very detailed way of bringing these eight women to life, so that we are able to feel that we are right there and a part of the festivities!
Great book Zara, I enjoyed it very much and highly recommend it !
Deborah Lorraine Olsen
Happiness shared Jun 22, 2008
By Pamela Nunan
I have just enjoyed a most poignant account of meetings, love and marriage in several cultures. How clever the author has been to capture such feelings and relate them with such insight within short stories...I have purchased 3 more copies to include with wedding presents for family and friends. Looking forward to the next book by Zara Stevens....Pamela
See all 10 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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