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Sarah Mlynowski is one of my favorite authors so I am a little biased. For a while I was hesitant to veer outside of her non-fantasy like books and I must say that I have seriously been depriving myself. She is so good, whether it is fantasy or not, no matter what age group. I love how complex and unconventional her characters are. This book was amazing. I couldn't put it down.

I have read many of Sarah Mlynowski's chick lit books. Her style is fun and fresh and I like her use of alternating voices. It changes things up and helps you to really see all of the characters in three dimensional ways.

The first book of hers I read was "Monkey Business" which I have probably read at least 30 times. What I notice about "Fishbowl" is that her characters run in parallels in these first novels: Layla is Jodine and Kimmy is Emma, etc. This isn't bad at all. Just something I noticed. Clearly Ms. Mlynowski writes what she knows.

I found the book to be cute and fun to read. Some of the scenarios seemed a bit far-fetched but that's what makes the story fun.

I liked Milkrun and I like this book as well. Like not love. I love the three distinct voices in the book in addition to the occasional narrator...
Jodine is an anal control freak, Emma is a uninhibited free spirit and Allie is teetering the delicate line between being a teenage and an adult. The three unlikely girls become roommates but not friends...not necessarily. The bond a bit after an accidental kitchen fire causes $10,000 worth of damage that they need to repair themselves or suffer the wrath of Carl the absent landlord.
After the kitchen fire- the story becomes a little predictable but none the less entertaining as they struggle to make money to pay for the repairs. In the process one roommate falls for the other roommate's crush, one roommate acts out a fantasy with a bartender and ruins a relationship she didn't know she had, one roommate finds real love. But will their relationship as friends survive? That you will have to read to find out.

The Good: I liked the unique style Sarah Mlynowski used to tell the story of three young roommates. The chapters of the novel alternate between each woman's perspective and that is quite a refreshing style of story telling. Another plus is Mlynowski's great writing. She's very funny and despite the vast differences between the three characters' personalities, that great sense of humor shows through brilliantly.
The Bad: The way these three people relate to each other is just too unbelievable! Usually, when three women who are THAT different from one another live together, they just keep to themselves and do their own thing. I couldn't believe for a minute that they would ever go out together, plan something together or even speak to one another!
The Ugly: Not one of these three women was likable. They were all quite irritating, actually. Although I enjoyed the book as a quick and somewhat fun read, I couldn't find one appealing quality out of any of the three main characters.
This is an okay novel. I enjoy reading this author's books so much---Milkrun was hilarious-that warrants a 3-star review nearly on it's own.

I love Sarah Mylnowski. This book didn't have as many laugh-out-loud moments as Milkrun, but it had more depth and more of a story. It was longer too, which was a good thing.
There are three characters speaking first-person in this book (they alternate chapters) which I thought was great. I didn't like one of the characters too much, the other I was nuetral about, and the third I really identified with. So you see, there's something for everyone.
I suggest this book not only to those who loved Milkrun, but anyone who likes chick lit, stories about friendships, or funny reads.

Cute and fun light reading, I would definitely read more by this author.

I received this book as a gift from an ex-roommate who told me that it reminded her of our final year of university when she and I shared an apartment with another girl. Initially I was touched by the sentiment, but as I read more of Fishbowl, I began to get worried that my friend might actually be attempting to tell me something because all three girls in this book were extremely HATEFUL. I understand that in "chick lit" it is understood that no female character can be perfect and must exhibit certain flaws or quirky traits, but I feel like Mlynowski did this to such an extreme that she wound up generating vapid stereotypes. You've got Type A/emotionally distant/uber bitch Jodine (who's a law student - naturally - with what is clearly some kind of eating disorder), virgin/naive/little girl lost Allie (who is in love with her best male friend), and rebel/promiscuous/wild child Emma (who lives off her daddy's money and has no respect for anyone's personal boundaries). I'll allow that Mlynowski develops her characters enough for them to be annoying, but in reality you'd never put up with any one of these people given how tiresome and unaware they are, never mind all three. To me, I felt like Mlynowski was trying too hard to create "quirky" characters, and this just reeked of a young author creating characters she believes the genre requires, rather than nuanced and realistic women. There are women who strike a balance between these three extremes, and they too have a place in fiction!

The one credit I must give Mlynowski is that this novel does break new ground in the chick lit genre, given that the romantic storylines felt secondary to the interpersonal relationship between the three girls. Of course, the romantic storylines that did exist were predictable and obvious from the beginning, but that is probably an unavoidable pitfall in this genre. I wish I could have found the focus on the women's relationships empowering, but because I found them all so self-obsessed and unaware of reality I really just felt annoyed most of the time. Furthermore, the plot wasn't overly engrossing and I ultimately couldn't wait to be finished with it.

This novel was at times funny and at other times honest, but in the end, it's not enjoyable to read a book where you are rooting against the characters because of their own stupidity. The prose was fine, the plot banal, and the characters more like caricatures. A new twist on the chick lit genre, certainly, but surely there must be better out there, because Fishbowl ultimately floats belly up.