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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
This is a wonderfully complex family drama that flows nicely, despite the long list of issues faced by the main character. I loved the characters and the measured pace of the plot. Ending was a little rushed but I am willing to overlook that, given how much I enjoyed the rest.
Full review at http://www.thewellreadredhead.com/2013/08/book-review-banks-of-certain-rivers-by.html
Full review at http://www.thewellreadredhead.com/2013/08/book-review-banks-of-certain-rivers-by.html
So this book came highly recommended by one of my favorite writers. And it turns out that there were just too many things about it that bugged me for me to really enjoy it. A lot of the main character's "issues" weren't based in reality and were therefore non-issues (How will he afford care for his wife in a coma if he loses his job? Well, he has offers on his property for a ton of money; he has wealthy family members. How will he afford a legal defense if he gets sued? Um, that's what your personal liability coverage on your Homeowners policy is for? And again, well off family members with whom he is on good terms. I have no patience for this sort of stuff in real life. I'm certainly not going to put up with it in a BOOK.) But really what it all boiled down to is that there was just too much going on, so I was all, "Wait, what is this book ABOUT?" Well, it turns out it's really about the main character's relationship with his son. But you don't really get that until the very end -- you get that the son is part of it, but there is all this distraction with the coma wife and his girlfriend and she's pregnant and he's never told his son he's even seeing her and OH! By the way! Main character drinks too much and passes out sometimes and the kid has to drag him to bed. And for a book this short, there is just way. too. much. happening.
Also, and this is just a personal thing -- I am super, duper offended by the notion of keeping someone who is in a vegetative state alive on life support in long term care. I think it's selfish and stupid and I can't even sympathize with the motivation of families who do this to their loved ones. NO ONE wants to live like that. So right off the bat, this is a thing in this book, and it's so offensive to me for personal reasons that I think the main character is a jackass. So that made it hard to like the book, and I guess I really should have led with this in my review.
Also, and this is just a personal thing -- I am super, duper offended by the notion of keeping someone who is in a vegetative state alive on life support in long term care. I think it's selfish and stupid and I can't even sympathize with the motivation of families who do this to their loved ones. NO ONE wants to live like that. So right off the bat, this is a thing in this book, and it's so offensive to me for personal reasons that I think the main character is a jackass. So that made it hard to like the book, and I guess I really should have led with this in my review.
Real life is really messy. If anyone knows that, Neil Kazenzakis does. Up until the day his wife is injured in a life altering event, Neil would have sworn he had the perfect life. A perfect wife, a perfect son, a job that wasn't his first choice but still enjoyable, good in laws and great neighbors made for a fairly enjoyable life. And then things got messy.
When Neil married Wendy, he had no idea that one day he'd be raising their son, Christopher, as a single parent. He also had no way of knowing that he would be watching out for his mother-in-law, who is showing early stages of Alzheimer's. He had no way of knowing that he'd fall in love with his mother-in-law's nurse. And he had no way of knowing he'd end up on YouTube. Before it's all over, Neil Kazenzakis will find himself fighting for his son, his job and his life.
I normally don't care for male protagonists. Most books I read have female leads. I can relate to them, it's easier to understand where they're coming from. I never expected to be drawn into Neil's world and to actually care about what happened to him. So many books present flawless characters, but Jon Harrison has given Neil flaws aplenty. In doing so, he's created a real human being and the problems he's dealing with are ones that any of us might run into in our daily lives. There is no nice, neat way to fix any of the situations Neil finds himself in. And that's what makes his character so likable. I'm definitely looking forward to more from this author.
When Neil married Wendy, he had no idea that one day he'd be raising their son, Christopher, as a single parent. He also had no way of knowing that he would be watching out for his mother-in-law, who is showing early stages of Alzheimer's. He had no way of knowing that he'd fall in love with his mother-in-law's nurse. And he had no way of knowing he'd end up on YouTube. Before it's all over, Neil Kazenzakis will find himself fighting for his son, his job and his life.
I normally don't care for male protagonists. Most books I read have female leads. I can relate to them, it's easier to understand where they're coming from. I never expected to be drawn into Neil's world and to actually care about what happened to him. So many books present flawless characters, but Jon Harrison has given Neil flaws aplenty. In doing so, he's created a real human being and the problems he's dealing with are ones that any of us might run into in our daily lives. There is no nice, neat way to fix any of the situations Neil finds himself in. And that's what makes his character so likable. I'm definitely looking forward to more from this author.
I enjoyed parts of this book. It seemed as if there were really two books here and because of that the author wasn't able to finish either well. The first 2/3 of the book cover his relationship with his son and family after his wife's accident. It wasn't until much later in the book that the subject of the fight video comes in to play at all. That storyline was uneccessary to the family drama that kept me reading until the end. I found myself skimming a lot of backstory pages that were not pertinient to either story. With heavy editing this could have been a great book, but the author tried to accomplish too much.
This one just wasn't for me. While I appreciate a little bit of back story, I don't need a back story to be so long and drawn out and every scene painted so vividly that by the time I get to the central story lines, the book is half over. This makes the ending feel rushed to me. I found myself reading certain scenes, wondering how it would play out in the future only to find that scene was never mentioned again. Then why did I get so invested in that past memory? I wish I didn't have this on my Kindle as I now can't trade it for another book.
I will say, the author does very well with the concept of "show don't tell." I just wish he told more of a story that pulled me in and kept me there.
I will say, the author does very well with the concept of "show don't tell." I just wish he told more of a story that pulled me in and kept me there.
I really liked this book. Right from the beginning I was pulled in to the story. The main characters were well developed and likeable, and I found myself thinking of them as real people.
The story really gets going quickly and makes it hard to stop reading. I found myself thinking about this book throughout the day and looking forward to the next free time I had to pick it back up again.
The only real problem I had with the book is that the ending seemed to get all wrapped up quickly and fairly neatly all at once. I expected more of a mess before it ended.
Overall, I'd rate this at 4.5 stars. Since Goodreads doesnt do half stars, I'm rounding it up to 5.
The story really gets going quickly and makes it hard to stop reading. I found myself thinking about this book throughout the day and looking forward to the next free time I had to pick it back up again.
The only real problem I had with the book is that the ending seemed to get all wrapped up quickly and fairly neatly all at once. I expected more of a mess before it ended.
Overall, I'd rate this at 4.5 stars. Since Goodreads doesnt do half stars, I'm rounding it up to 5.
Real life is really messy. If anyone knows that, Neil Kazenzakis does. Up until the day his wife is injured in a life altering event, Neil would have sworn he had the perfect life. A perfect wife, a perfect son, a job that wasn't his first choice but still enjoyable, good in laws and great neighbors made for a fairly enjoyable life. And then things got messy.
When Neil married Wendy, he had no idea that one day he'd be raising their son, Christopher, as a single parent. He also had no way of knowing that he would be watching out for his mother-in-law, who is showing early stages of Alzheimer's. He had no way of knowing that he'd fall in love with his mother-in-law's nurse. And he had no way of knowing he'd end up on YouTube. Before it's all over, Neil Kazenzakis will find himself fighting for his son, his job and his life.
I normally don't care for male protagonists. Most books I read have female leads. I can relate to them, it's easier to understand where they're coming from. I never expected to be drawn into Neil's world and to actually care about what happened to him. So many books present flawless characters, but Jon Harrison has given Neil flaws aplenty. In doing so, he's created a real human being and the problems he's dealing with are ones that any of us might run into in our daily lives. There is no nice, neat way to fix any of the situations Neil finds himself in. And that's what makes his character so likable. I'm definitely looking forward to more from this author.
When Neil married Wendy, he had no idea that one day he'd be raising their son, Christopher, as a single parent. He also had no way of knowing that he would be watching out for his mother-in-law, who is showing early stages of Alzheimer's. He had no way of knowing that he'd fall in love with his mother-in-law's nurse. And he had no way of knowing he'd end up on YouTube. Before it's all over, Neil Kazenzakis will find himself fighting for his son, his job and his life.
I normally don't care for male protagonists. Most books I read have female leads. I can relate to them, it's easier to understand where they're coming from. I never expected to be drawn into Neil's world and to actually care about what happened to him. So many books present flawless characters, but Jon Harrison has given Neil flaws aplenty. In doing so, he's created a real human being and the problems he's dealing with are ones that any of us might run into in our daily lives. There is no nice, neat way to fix any of the situations Neil finds himself in. And that's what makes his character so likable. I'm definitely looking forward to more from this author.