Review: Been There Done That by Carol Snow. The beginning of the book started out slow but once I got into the main part of the story I seemed to get interested. I will say I really didn’t find much hardy humor throughout the story and I was off and on liking and not liking the book. The writing was good and the characters were fair but it just didn’t give me the lift I wanted. I’m some what old fashioned and what little collage days I had wasn’t enough to remember those days. Kathy Hopkins is in her early thirties and works as a writer for Salad magazine. (Right off I thought the title of the magazine was a turn off and it turned out their ratings were low.) An ex-boyfriend, Tim McAllister comes back into Kathy’s life who works for another higher class magazine in a different area. Because Kathy lives and works in the vicinity of Mercer College Tim wants Kathy to go undercover and investigate a rumor of a prostitution ring he heard about at the college. When she approach her boss about the job he was totally against it so Tim talked to him and made it sound more glamorous then it actually was. Kathy had the job and with her youthful looks she would fit right in but she had to remember to act eighteen instead of in her thirties…. It turned out to be a six week adventure instead of three as she assumed. How hard could it be living in a dorm pretending to be eighteen..? Well, Kathy ended up having a fling with a college student named Jeremy who was twenty-one. I felt bad for Jeremy because I think he had really liked her. With few adult mistakes she had while being the eighteen year old Kathy, she still was able to pull it off but she didn’t get the story she wanted. What issue she did uncover wasn’t the great story Tim and her boss were waiting for. However, what she discovered did give some highlight to the story. Well, now Kathy has been fired, students were upset with her because of the investigation (but really because of her age), Tim wasn’t still interested in her as she thought, and she regretted hurting Jeremy. (I think she had a crush on him too) The ending came quick and she learned there was a prostitution ring but she was looking in the wrong places. So Tim wound up getting his big story after all….and Kathy had to find another job… ( )

The story premise was very intriguing to me. I didn't think that a 32 year old could pass for a college student, regardless how young he or she appeared. Despite physical differences, adults just hold themselves differently from children. And, true, Kathy makes a few mistakes, but what I loved was that without appearing as overly immature for an adult, Kathy successfully infiltrates the college life, even to the point of sleeping in later, and flirting with the resident assistant.

I had never read a book by Carol Snow before reading this book. I actually checked this out with 4 other books by Carol Snow, and after reading this book I can't wait to read her other book. Unfortunately for me, I've got quite a few other books that I'm also really excited to read, so it will probably be a while before I actually get to read them. I'll probably end up returning them and checking them out at a later time... anyways, back to the review- Carol Snow did an amazing job in accurately portraying the average life of a college student, from parties to friends and extracurriculars, Kathy does not get so involved in her investigating that she misses out on the college life, which may make for a mediocre reporter, but it really adds depth and honesty to the story, both that the reader reads, and the one that she ends up writing for her boss. ( )

It was a fun and entertaining book. I was a bit predictable in the format and style but it was good to get a break from some other serious reading. ( )

It was nice break from the heavy textbook material I've been having to read. A good book that reminded me of the movie "Never Been Kissed". I figured how it was going to end but it was still fun to read. ( )

After Jane Eyre, this was definitely a nice rest for my reading. The story was interesting and light without seeming too superficial. The storyline is a little like the movie starring Drew Barrymore-- a reporter goes undercover to find the dirt in the education system. Of course the difference is that Drew Barrymore fell for a teacher as a high school student and Kathy (Katie) falls for her RA. I guess it has a bit of that forbidden RA-freshman thing going on like in First Daughter starring Katie Holmes.
I have to say that some parts of the story felt a little slow but I think that the characters were great and at times, I really did laugh out loud. It was an enjoyable read that makes you believe that love can happen no matter how old you are and that it's okay to not plan it out or to follow the traditional, conventional routes. ( )