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kvokolek's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
already complained about a million other aspects on Goodreads and Instagram so will just add one new thing: there is a uncomfortable level of praising romantic love to the point where it’s not even just implied that your life is a half-life if you don’t have a romantic/sexual partner, but very explicitly stated, which is a viewpoint that I find unfortunate and unhealthy
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident and Pregnancy
Moderate: Alcohol and Infidelity
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Rape
jg34's review against another edition
challenging
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I thought this was just ok. The first half of the book felt incredibly slow and impersonal. Even through the end I didn’t feel very emotionally attached to any of the characters except maybe Jimmy. The love story (if you can call it that) wasn’t convincing at all and we did not get to see it progress at all it’s just one day they are suddenly in love. Aggie and Gary didn’t seem to be very necessary to the story in my opinion. It was a overall good story but with told in a very surface level way which results in a pretty forgettable book. Also why is it even called early morning riser? I may have missed that somewhere in the story I admit I listened to it on audiobook and may have not paid attention at some crucial moment or something
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pregnancy, Car accident, Sexual content, and Medical content
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
isobelk_18's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident
serendipitysbooks's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Early Morning Riser is a very quiet novel with lots of quirky yet warm-hearted small town vibes. There’s not a lot of plot; we just follow Jane, an elementary school teacher, through seventeen years of her mostly uneventful life. In many ways it reminded me of an Anne Tyler novel. The character of Jimmy definitely tugged at my heartstrings, and I have many thoughts about the way he was treated. I listened on audio and think the quirkiness would have been too much for me in print.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Ableism, and Death of parent
atamano's review against another edition
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, and Car accident
Moderate: Grief, Alcohol, Sexual content, and Sexism
jazzy_t's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Firstly let me just say I agree with Jane on the garlic bread!
This books was sad, happy, funny and real. I really enjoyed reading it, I felt like I was looking into someone's real life. I really connected to the characters, who were written so well, and I felt as if they were real people not fictional.
The ending maybe was a little disappointing but that's me just asking for more because I didn't want to leave these characters.
I would recommend!
This books was sad, happy, funny and real. I really enjoyed reading it, I felt like I was looking into someone's real life. I really connected to the characters, who were written so well, and I felt as if they were real people not fictional.
The ending maybe was a little disappointing but that's me just asking for more because I didn't want to leave these characters.
I would recommend!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Car accident
monalyisha's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
If Frieda were taking requests for songs on her mandolin, meant to describe this book, I’d ask her to play Thao Nguyen’s “Chivalry.” Thao sings, “I am tired / I am through / When I love, I will love so hard / Harder than I could love with you.” Early Morning Riser is about a woman who wants to love someone “so hard,” and her family, friends, and especially the lover, who often fall short of the mark — but (and this is important) not always.
It’s also about a young man on the autism spectrum, and the village (small town) that cares for and alongside him. This novel is about the big feelings felt while living through the small pleasures and hardships of a mundane life.
Sometimes, I really enjoyed it (like when Jane’s daughter finally “got” cartwheels, or when one of her second-graders complained of a “disappearing bathroom”). Sometimes, Jane wanted “to get drunk enough to ask [her friend] if it was true if she hadn’t ever had sex with anyone, not even a drunk migrant worker.” Only one time did a woman “go home with” another woman, and it was assumed that the experience would be a “sexual awakening,” which was very othering. Personally, I was also peeved that the sexually “unawakened” character was a librarian; it just plays into (one of the) dominant stereotype(s) of librarians (that we’re prudes). What I’m saying is, despite its charms, this book felt very white, cisnormative, and heteronormative…and not very socially conscious or aware.
It’s also about a young man on the autism spectrum, and the village (small town) that cares for and alongside him. This novel is about the big feelings felt while living through the small pleasures and hardships of a mundane life.
Sometimes, I really enjoyed it (like when Jane’s daughter finally “got” cartwheels, or when one of her second-graders complained of a “disappearing bathroom”). Sometimes, Jane wanted “to get drunk enough to ask [her friend] if it was true if she hadn’t ever had sex with anyone, not even a drunk migrant worker.” Only one time did a woman “go home with” another woman, and it was assumed that the experience would be a “sexual awakening,” which was very othering. Personally, I was also peeved that the sexually “unawakened” character was a librarian; it just plays into (one of the) dominant stereotype(s) of librarians (that we’re prudes). What I’m saying is, despite its charms, this book felt very white, cisnormative, and heteronormative…and not very socially conscious or aware.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity, Death of parent, and Car accident
livlosiewicz's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Jane moves to Boyne City, Michigan, and is immediately smitten with Duncan Ryfield. The thing with Duncan is, though- he seems to be inextricably linked to the entire town. Whether it be that he slept with the sister of the doctor’s secretary, or that he mows the lawn of his ex-wife Aggie, or that his coworker Jimmy lets himself into Duncan’s apartment whenever he feels like it- Jane likes Duncan, but she’s not sure she’s prepared for all of this. And yet, life has a funny way of happening, and after an unexpected turn of events, Jane soon finds herself tied in this web of small-town folks: Duncan, Aggie, Jimmy. Spanning the course of almost two decades, this is a novel about life- not the big things, but how we manage all the little things in between.
[I’m having trouble explaining the plot in a way that doesn’t give it away]
Pros:
·This is one of those books that made me all warm and fuzzy inside. It’s just a delight.
·I loved the characters- each so unique and specific and messy in their own way. While there wasn’t a central plot, none of the details felt pointless to me because everything contributed to our understanding of the characters. I felt like the characters were my friends by the end of the novel. No character was depicted as perfect, and we got to see different sides of most of them, which I really, really liked. I ESPECIALLY adored Jimmy, and my heart grew three sizes whenever he was on the page.
·I loved the way we read Jane’s raw emotions, even when we see her being perfectly kind outwardly. Heiny captures the casual complexity of being a person so well.
Cons:
·none? The age gap between Duncan and Jane is a little big??
Recommendation: Highly recommend to those who like character-driven stories. This is a feel-good, simple but beautiful novel about the messiness of human connection. Avoid if you don’t like books without main driving plots/character-driven books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy
Minor: Car accident
rachele's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I kept waiting for the plot to start and before I knew it the book was done, I guess that was the point of it, the idea of if you are waiting for your life to start, you’ll keep waiting until you realize you are living it. I can understand the sweet simple life moments, but I couldn’t really connect with how things just seem to happen to Jane, she just seemed to be buoyed along. Overall it was a fine read that kept my focus and held my interest to keep going.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent and Car accident
Minor: Pregnancy
laurenmcnamara's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Car accident and Ableism