Fringe Benefits by Valerie Frankel

Adora Benet is so not looking forward to her summer. Her best friends Eli and Liza are off globetrotting and having adventures in exotic locales. Her boyfriend Noel is leaving Brooklyn to go camping of all things. And worst of all, Dora’s parents are forcing her to get a job to learn the true meaning of the dollar. But the summer turns out to be not as bad as Dora thought it would be. She lands a waitressing job at an exclusive tennis and squash club and another at a vet’s office. There are the cooler and older friends who know how to have fun and an adorable pet cat her parents may or may not know about, not to mention the super hot animal doctor she works with. But this is also Dora’s first experience in the real world, and she’s about to learn that life is far from being just a big party.

Fringe Benefits was a fun and satisfying read. Dora’s character is mostly realistically drawn, from her relationship insecurities to her desire to be universally liked. I really admired Dora’s positive relationship with her family and her unwavering loyalty to her best friends because this made her a very likable person. Dora’s authenticity made her easy to relate to as well. The story is interesting enough, mostly because of Dora’s humor and very unique trains of thought, but much of the plot, especially the ending, left much to be desired. The story didn't end with a huge sense of accomplishment and some of Dora’s problems were still left up in the air. I did like how Dora grew as a person, but frankly, I thought the ending was kind of lame. Nothing really stood out to me about this novel, and I probably won’t finish reading the series, but it’s still a short and sweet read.

Fringe Benefits is the fourth installment in Frankel’s Fringe Girl series, but it is still easy to understand on its own. Fringe Benefits is a meaningful and not-too-trashy guilty pleasure for fans of The Queen Geek Social Club by Laura Preble and The Elite series by Jennifer Banash.

Rating: 3.5

Review copy from publisher Berkley JAM