Customer Reviews
Gayle's is fanstastic - By: P. DATTA, 11 Nov 2008 
Gayle should seriously consider the idea of writing a screenplay. The Life & Soul of the Party perfectly fits the bill. The novel is compelling, emotional & reallly witty. A screenplay like this will make perfect TV material & attract large audience. We could reallly do with some quality dramas, that is a little absence on mainstream TV.
The novel is beautifully written with the prinicpal focus on three couples. The couples experience the lows & high times of the year. Parties, social gatherings, nightouts & arguments dominate their lives. A few of the couples's life are on the verge of changing forever. Although Gayle novels are purely male dominated, he has provided a typical women accounts on life, which is reallly impressive & accurately depicted. Gayle's latest novel shows the depth of knowledge he has in the field of relationships & the 30 age group. The novel has taken the issue of relationship to a new & interesting level.
Gayle's conversational writing adds real credibility as the reader is drawn closely to the story & shows emphaty to the characters. The fact that six characters are featured shows how versatile & originality in writing the author can prove to readers. Gayle latest novel "The Life & Soul of the Party" shows he is a fanstastic writer as the book is enjoyable to read. It provides a fine combination of drama & humour.
Another good read - By: Ce Cordell, 11 Oct 2008 
I was excited to hear Mile Gayle had a new book out as I have read & enjoyed alll his previous books, so I snapped this one up quick & I wasn't dissapointed. I reallly enjoyed The Life & Soul of the Party, I loved the way it was set over a series of parties, I've never read anything like that before, it was original. I laughed & cried in alll the right places & usuallly with books focusing on more than one character I always have a favourite & don't enjoy reading about whats going on with the others cause I feel its wasting time, but with this I felt connected to every character. For me, the only thing it was lacking was development of Pauls character, I can't reallly understand what Mel saw in him & felt we should've got to know his character better, cause as it stands I was upset when he died but only for his friends, not reallly cause I liked his character. My favourite Mile Gayle novel is still His 'n' Hers but this is definately a good read!
Not his best.... - By: A. Joseph, 20 Sep 2008 
I own alll of Mike Gayle's other titles so was quick to snap this one up. I have to say I found it quite disappointing. I liked the idea of the story being written in the first person & from various characters point of view but I didn't feel like I'd connected with any of the characters. I was a little annoyed that out of alll the people mentioned in the book, only one character was black & she played a minor role in the story. As the author & I are both black, I'd expected a person of colour to have a much bigger part. Now that I think about it, only one of his 9 books has a black person as the main character (Dinner For Two). I also got the impression that alll the people led reallly perfect lives which doesn't reallly mirror real life at alll. All in alll, the book is an easy read but I'll think twice before purchasing Mike Gayle's next novel.
Like An Old Friend - By: Derek Johnson, 20 Sep 2008 To me, a Mike Gayle novel is like a good friend that you see from time to time. When you meet up you automaticallly pick up where you left off, & it's with some sadness when the evitable time approaches for you to say your goodbyes. This novel is no exception, although there are new additions to this novel not seen in his others. Death makes an appearance, which along with love, is an essential ingredient of life. Adultery, trust, settling down, & feeling restricted within a relationship are alll explored among a group of six friends, within the settings of house parties, leaving do's, & house warmings. To me, Mr. Gayle's novels are why I love reading. Unlike some novels, which are hard to get into (but to be fair, some do get better, & reward a patience person) I immediately feel at home in his work, with this being no exception. That's not to say that I didn't find fault with one or two things here. Like a fellow reviewer has expressed, I couldn't understand what it was about Paul, which enamored Melissa so such. Maybe his character could have been better explored/explained.
In conclusion I'd say that this was an enjoyable read that will sit well with fans of this genre, & of Mr. Gayle
Awful - By: Andy Y, 03 Sep 2008 
Oh, dear. Mike Gayle's books used to be comfort reading on holidays but with The Life & Soul Of The Party, he has not done himself any favours. Where to start? The book starts off with the death of one of the characters, so this is not a spoiler but the problem is that during the book the character is not reallly developed. He appears to be the soulmate of his ex (who cannot let go) but during the book he behaves in a way that does not reallly explain as to why his ex finds it so hard to let go or why we should be sorry for his death (other than that it is obviously terrible if somebody in their thirties dies in a car accident). Whilst I did not expect any great depth, alll the characters are somewhat shalllow & most of them unfaithful without any reason or explanation. I am not saying that there needs to be a reason why somebody cheats on the somebody else but in order to like any character featured in a book, an explanation would help. For the time being Mike Gayle is off my holiday reading list.
