100 by 30 Book 44 - The She-Hulk Diaries by Marta Acosta

What do you get when you mix chick-lit with the Marvel Universe? A surprisingly fun and breezy tale of lawsuits, genetic manipulation, and the never ending quest to find the right love of your life. The She-Hulk Diaries follows a half year in the life of Jennifer Walters / She-Hulk.

For those you aren't familiar with Bruce Banner's Cousin, here's the quick rundown: Jennifer Walters was an up and coming hot shot attorney when some bad thing happened to her. Bruce donated his blood to save her life and she gained a version of his Hulk powers. Unlike Hulk, She-Hulk is a smart, sexy fully expressive character. Since she has her own personality, Jennifer is basically sharing her body with her room mate. Since She-Hulk is indestructible, she tends to live on the wild side, enjoying all night parties, and often making the kind of choices normally reserved for former Disney child stars. Despite their prowess in the courtroom, Jennifer/She-Hulk are being evicted from the Avengers' mansion due to several extra-curricular incidents involving millions of dollars of property damage.

The book is told through the eyes of Jennifer as she tries to get her life back on track in the new year. When it comes time for her to Hulk-out, we get a sense of what it feels like to watch someone else control your body. Jennifer and "Shulky" have a fun sisterly dynamic with Jennifer trying to keep Shulky from appearing on TMZ, Shulky tries to get Jennifer to let loose a little more. It works well as character development, and the notes they leave to each other offer a nice dose of humor.

The main conflict involves a bio-engineering lawsuit where Jennifer is suing the best friend of a former fling of hers and said fling happens to be engaged to here new boss. We get lots of insults, snide comments, and smoldering glances. We also get a sexy Swedish scientist who might not be all that he seems.

While the book is decidedly a light read, I have to say I found it to be rather charming in it's own way. If I'm gonna read a silly romance book, I do prefer a story with smart, self-reliant female characters who can take care of themselves. It also helps if I get a nice dose of super-powered awesomeness.

7/10