A Shore Thing Review

A Shore Thing - Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi

*January 4th, 2011 Gallery Books

It’s a summer to remember . . . at the Jersey Shore.

Giovanna “Gia” Spumanti and her cousin Isabella “Bella” Rizzoli are going to have the sexiest summer ever. While they couldn’t be more different—pint-size Gia is a carefree, outspoken party girl and Bella is a tall, slender athlete who always holds her tongue—for the next month they’re ready to pouf up their hair, put on their stilettos, and soak up all that Seaside Heights, New Jersey, has to offer: hot guidos, cool clubs, fried Oreos, and lots of tequila.

So far, Gia’s summer is on fire. Between nearly burning down their rented bungalow, inventing the popular “tan-tags” at the Tantastic Salon where she works, and rescuing a shark on the beach, she becomes a local celebrity overnight. Luckily, she meets the perfect guy to help her keep the flames under control. Firefighter Frank Rossi is exactly her type: big, tan, and Italian. But is he tough enough to handle Gia when things really heat up?

Bella is more than ready for some fun in the sun. Finally free of her bonehead ex-boyfriend, she left home in Brooklyn with one goal in mind: hooking up with a sexy gorilla for a no-strings-attached summer fling. In no time, she lands a job leading “Beat Up the Beat” dance classes at a local gym, and is scooped up by Beemer-driving, preppy Bender Newberry. Only problem: Bella can’t get her romantic and ripped boss Tony “Trouble” Troublino out of her head. He’s relationship material. Suddenly, Bella’s not sure what she wants.

The cousins soon realize that for every friend they make on the boardwalk, there are also rivals, slummers, and frenemies who will do anything to ruin their summer—and try their relationship. Before July ends, the bonds of family and friendship will be stretched to the breaking point. Will the haters prevail, or will Gia and Bella find love at the Shore?

Okay, okay - I know what you're thinking - you're judging right now, aren't you? Don't judge! Sure, Snooki's A Shore Thing may not be heavy on the literary, or particularly academic reading material, but at the same time, it's very Jersey Shore. It's the kind of book where it's just a fun, shallow story that doesn't require a lot of thinking. (Which is definitely a more relaxed contrast to the heaviness of say, Marx, Weber, etc.)

The whole book is very definitively "Snooki", from characters, to names, to plot. From the get-go, MCs Gia & Bella are introduced with nicknames in quotation marks, following the Snooki-model to a T. In terms of actual book content, a lot of it seems to mirror aspects of Snooki (& co.) from Jersey Shore. For example, hair poufs, fuzzy slippers, pickles, lack of bowel control, nicknames, etc.

The ending did seem a little abrupt and didn't seem most fitting, considering all the drama that went into the lead-up. But at the same time, it ends in such a way that it seems, like the rest of the novel, very Snooki-esque.

Although not deep nor philosophical, A Shore Thing is a guilty pleasure sort of read in the exact same vein as the hugely popular Jersey Shore.