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emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was alright. I picked it up because I was promised family drama, and I certainly got that! Anyway, here are my opinions of the characters (only the ones that are alive):
Astrid: She's kinda relatable. Wasn't the best mom, but she did what she could. She's fun to read about. I liked her.
Birdie: Nice old lady who cuts hair. Not much to her, but she was nice enough.
Elliot: Meh. I didn't really care for him. He seemed kinda rude and mannerless sometimes, and I just don't really like people who don't have manners.
Porter: No! I do not like her! She slept with a guy she knew was married! DON'T DO THAT! And she didn't have a big enough excuse to do it either, in my opinion. Like, if she'd had a ludicrously hard life, I would've *kinda* understood (but it still would've been inexcusable). But... she just did it because he was a cute guy??? Really??? Do people just sleep with everyone they find cute, no matter their relationship status???
Nick(y): He was fine, I didn't really care for him too much.
Aidan and Zachary: Nightmare children, but sweet enough in Cecilia's POV.
Wendy: A WHOLE QUEEN. Yes, I love Wendy. She is wonderful.
Porter's baby: Wasn't really around for most of the book. Also she's a baby. I don't have any opinions on a baby.
Cecilia: YES. She was probably my favorite character. Funny, free-spirited, and very very ready to do the right thing. Her chapters were probably my favorite of them all.
Julliette: She was kinda funny because she kept saying random French words, but she didn't appear often enough for me to have much of an opinion of her.
August/Robin: AAAA!! Another favorite character! So funny, and hilarious, and funny, and hilarious, and... I already said that already. The point is, I liked this character a lot.
Unfortunately, the characters were not enough for me to give this book a much higher rating, because the plot was sorely lacking. A ton of subplots were just forgotten about. For example: what's gonna happen with Elliot buying the spot on the roundabout?? Is he gonna turn it into a business that'll compete with Birdie's? Hell, I don't know, THE SUBPLOT WAS NEVER RESOLVED.
Anyway. This was fine, but it could've been better. It had tons of potential. Other reviews have complained about the overstuffing of hot-button issues in this book, but I don't mind it. Each person in the family has their own big stuff going on, so it makes sense that they'd all be dealing with at least one or two hot-button issues. They all could've been discussed much deeper, but I'm not complaining too much about this. True rating of this book is 3.5 stars for me.
Astrid: She's kinda relatable. Wasn't the best mom, but she did what she could. She's fun to read about. I liked her.
Birdie: Nice old lady who cuts hair. Not much to her, but she was nice enough.
Elliot: Meh. I didn't really care for him. He seemed kinda rude and mannerless sometimes, and I just don't really like people who don't have manners.
Porter: No! I do not like her! She slept with a guy she knew was married! DON'T DO THAT! And she didn't have a big enough excuse to do it either, in my opinion. Like, if she'd had a ludicrously hard life, I would've *kinda* understood (but it still would've been inexcusable). But... she just did it because he was a cute guy??? Really??? Do people just sleep with everyone they find cute, no matter their relationship status???
Nick(y): He was fine, I didn't really care for him too much.
Aidan and Zachary: Nightmare children, but sweet enough in Cecilia's POV.
Wendy: A WHOLE QUEEN. Yes, I love Wendy. She is wonderful.
Porter's baby: Wasn't really around for most of the book. Also she's a baby. I don't have any opinions on a baby.
Cecilia: YES. She was probably my favorite character. Funny, free-spirited, and very very ready to do the right thing. Her chapters were probably my favorite of them all.
Julliette: She was kinda funny because she kept saying random French words, but she didn't appear often enough for me to have much of an opinion of her.
August/Robin: AAAA!! Another favorite character! So funny, and hilarious, and funny, and hilarious, and... I already said that already. The point is, I liked this character a lot.
Unfortunately, the characters were not enough for me to give this book a much higher rating, because the plot was sorely lacking. A ton of subplots were just forgotten about. For example: what's gonna happen with Elliot buying the spot on the roundabout?? Is he gonna turn it into a business that'll compete with Birdie's? Hell, I don't know, THE SUBPLOT WAS NEVER RESOLVED.
Anyway. This was fine, but it could've been better. It had tons of potential. Other reviews have complained about the overstuffing of hot-button issues in this book, but I don't mind it. Each person in the family has their own big stuff going on, so it makes sense that they'd all be dealing with at least one or two hot-button issues. They all could've been discussed much deeper, but I'm not complaining too much about this. True rating of this book is 3.5 stars for me.
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Some good plot lines, but written without any real drama or intrigue.
This book was one that a lot of people talked about, but I had a hard time with it. For some reason, it was hard for me to follow the plot, and harder to enjoy the characters. I couldn’t wait to finish it, just to be done with it (which may be harsh, but that’s how I felt about it).
Really loved the first half of the book, then felt like it dragged on a little too long with no real story arc. It was a cute read but didn’t do much for me.
It was fine. Wished the story had focused on the transgender character as they seemed the most interesting. Too bad to have them be on the sidelines of the story.
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced