The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance had me interested right away just by the title and the blurb. Elna Baker is a Mormon woman who is a single college grad who is overweight and struggling to find a man who shares her faith with her. I really identified with her, except for the Mormon aspect of the situation. This book follows her life over a few years and her relational exploits.
As I said, at first I was charmed by this book. I like the fun and playful Elna who has a wholesome feel to her, but right around the time that she lost her weight, she became very selfish, and her lying became far more evident. Before she only shared stories involving how far the word 'yes' would take, but suddenly she's pretending to pass out, lying about tickets that she has, lying about having a trip planned to Africa, etc. I'll admit that her struggle to cover up her lies is amusing, but there's nothing else positive to be said about it.
By the end of the book Elna has crossed every boundary that she had set for herself, stopping just shy of third base. Really what this book felt like to me was a record of how Elna lost her faith and became quite shallow. Mormons wouldn't want to read it because Elna discards her faith at the end, and non Mormons are unlikely to read it because the first 85% of the book is all about Mormons.
Really, I see in Elna enough of myself that it bugs me and makes me want to change.