So, as a female turning 25 in 6 weeks, I figured it was about time I read my first Jackie Collins novel. I remember always hearing that Jackie Collins novels were full of sex and filth so naturally figured that this was something I would enjoy! I'm not usually the type to go for girly chick-lit but she's such a hugely successful and well known author that I thought it was only fair to give one of her books a go.
I picked Power Trip as it was one of the first ones that came up on Amazon - I didn't know what I was getting into. Basically its the story of a Russian multimillionaire and its Naomi Campbell-esque model girlfriend. The decide to have a holiday on a luxury yacht and invite five other couples including an English football star and his WAG, a movie star, a blogger activist, an American senator and a gay couple. The story is full of luxury and decadence, as you'd expect from this sort of set up but not as much sex and "filth" as I was lead to expect.
The story never really goes anywhere. We learn about the footballer and his wife mending their relationship, one gay guy realising he's not happy and it turns out the senators wife once knew the activist but the senator broke them apart and they were meant to be together. From the opening scene - the story then flashes back to tell us the set up - we know the boat is attacked by pirates. Turns out one of the staff is an inside girl and the pirates attack looking to hold the Russian at ransom due to his little explained involvement in the death of some Russian gang lord. I felt that was a bit glossed over and when the pirates do finally attack, all of this mish-mash of people are surprisingly well equipped at dealing with the situation. I would be peeing my pants if it happened to me but they all keep their heads and everything works out fine.
At the end we are then given brief "3 months later" updates on what they're all doing and for the most part, it's not a happy ending which kind of makes it all seems pointless. Yes, it's a bit more realistic that relationships fall apart after an attempted hijacking but I was kind of let down by the ending overall. The couples who looked rocky work it out and those who seemed perfect don't. All a bit of a cliche in my opinion.
Maybe I'll do my research and find a decent Jackie Collins novel and give her a second chance one day when I'm looking for something easy and trashy. Collins novels are often compared to a soap opera and that's exactly how I felt reading this book. I didn't really care or have strong feelings for any of the characters, but at the same time I didn't actively dislike them (except for Xuan, she really annoyed me with her self-righteousness which was kind of explained with her fighting her way out of Communist China and being repeatedly raped but she just came off as a bitch).
So my overall opinion is that this wasn't great but it doesn't mean I'll rule out reading another Jackie Collins novel but that's mainly because I'm bored with teen trash and at least these have a bit of sex to them!
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