I’m generally not a fan of the chick-lit genre. I tend to find whining about men by women with unrealistically successful careers pretty obnoxious and unsympathetic (there is no way a journalist in New York City can afford a huge apartment and a closet full of designer clothes no matter what TV tells me).

All my feminist issues aside, though, Pamela Ribon’s Why Moms are Weird, while classified as chick-lit, is not typical. The main character, Benny Bernstein, doesn’t moan about her glamorous job or lack of a boyfriend. Benny, an employee at a travel agency in Los Angeles, flies across the country to Virginia to be with her mom and sister after a car accident.

This trip brings out all her family issues including her mother’s promiscuity, her sister’s rebellious ways and undesirable taste in boyfriends, and Benny’s own insecurities about her place in the family. Of course, there’s the romantic subplot with Benny torn between two guys, neither of whom she will let herself be with. Unlike most of these kinds of books though, the male characters are given room to develop beyond being good-looking Prince Charmings with a better job and more money than Benny. In fact, that was one of the things I liked most—that Benny was the one with the steady job, nice apartment, and independence while the two male love interests were still trying to figure their careers out.

Benny’s a likable character and relatable protagonist and her family issues are pretty major, although Ribon uses enough of a comedic tone to keep us from pitying Benny or hating her mom. The novel isn’t as laugh-out-loud funny as the cover predicts, but there are some humorous parts. Ribon manages to pull off a happy ending without doing any of the characters a disservice. Overall, it’s a good beach read for the girl who doesn’t think Sex and the City was the best show ever.