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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
I don't know how I found this book and think I only choose it because I mistakenly thought that this title won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction when it was actually a different title by the same author. It read as an affluent, old, white woman's diary during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic which at least made it a fast read. I didn't really care to keep track of all of the different characters' many affairs and botched relationships. It felt like a really slow story and many significant topics, like the lynching of George Floyd, felt like they were included as an afterthought and thus probably appropriately occupied an amount of mental space realistic for a 60-something rich white woman that moved from Manhattan to rural Maine during lockdown.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A book that I saw at the library and requested entirely because of it’s cover. And you know what they say about that…I read this in two days so I guess that says something about it. It’s not super deep but the author is really good at capturing the sort of aching nature of the protagonist. Intensely readable.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It was pretty good. I read it all in one sitting while shampooing my new apartment floors and doing laundry. I always go into books almost completely blind and when this immediately started as a pandemic book I was like oh no. However, maybe it's just bc I'm tired but it brought up sad things but didn't pull emotion from me 🤷♀️ it was an easy listen and good to clean to 👍
reflective
slow-paced
It’s a shame to see this series becoming less and less impactful. I think Oh William was the turn for the worse narrative wise, frankly I don’t care much about William. Lucy’s own feelings and thoughts in many ways become secondary to his as the narrative progresses. I’m also not sure if I’m ready to read things about the pandemic yet. I respect Strout’s desire to address the modern world and its politics, but I’m really not sure if she’s done so in any particularly productive way. Her observations are rarely deeper than surface level, the same as many of us have, but in a way that just doesn’t seem to have much of a purpose other than to prove that Lucy thinks about these things. I wish she would return to the concept of the first two, but I fear that has long since passed.
I wanted to love this book, but it was a tough one for me. This is the fourth book in the Amgash series, and it follows Lucy and (yes, again) William as they relocate from NYC to Maine during the COVID-19 lockdown. That’s pretty much the heart of the story— a pandemic lockdown novel.
It’s written in Strout’s usual quiet, introspective style, but this time, it just didn’t land the way I hoped. I found myself feeling disconnected from Lucy, and while I normally love her inner reflections, here they started to feel a bit repetitive.
Also, I have to be honest, some parts felt a little “virtue-signally”, and there were moments that made me cringe. I get that this is meant to be a snapshot of a strange and emotional time in history, and I appreciate the attempt at honesty and reflection, but overall, it just didn’t resonate with me the way her other books have.
That said, there are still glimmers of Strout’s signature insight— quiet moments about grief, aging, loneliness, and family, that hit just right. But as a whole, it just didn’t pull me in.
So, while I’m glad to have another piece of Lucy’s story, this book just didn’t give me the same connection I’ve felt in the past.
A solid 3.5 stars (rounded up)— I didn’t hate it, but I definitely didn’t love it. If you’re reading the series, it’s worth it for continuity. But if you’re hoping for the kind of quiet emotional weight that made My Name Is Lucy Barton so powerful, this one might feel a little flat.
⭐️⭐️⭐️.
It’s written in Strout’s usual quiet, introspective style, but this time, it just didn’t land the way I hoped. I found myself feeling disconnected from Lucy, and while I normally love her inner reflections, here they started to feel a bit repetitive.
Also, I have to be honest, some parts felt a little “virtue-signally”, and there were moments that made me cringe. I get that this is meant to be a snapshot of a strange and emotional time in history, and I appreciate the attempt at honesty and reflection, but overall, it just didn’t resonate with me the way her other books have.
That said, there are still glimmers of Strout’s signature insight— quiet moments about grief, aging, loneliness, and family, that hit just right. But as a whole, it just didn’t pull me in.
So, while I’m glad to have another piece of Lucy’s story, this book just didn’t give me the same connection I’ve felt in the past.
A solid 3.5 stars (rounded up)— I didn’t hate it, but I definitely didn’t love it. If you’re reading the series, it’s worth it for continuity. But if you’re hoping for the kind of quiet emotional weight that made My Name Is Lucy Barton so powerful, this one might feel a little flat.
⭐️⭐️⭐️.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed several of the author’s other books, but this one is a total bust. Undeveloped, whiny, unsympathetic and uninteresting characters—including Lucy, who, in this “novel” has been replaced by a bloodless husk of her former self—a boring plot that goes nowhere slowly, and writing that completely lacks depth. The wretched audiobook version may exacerbate these issues. As others have commented, it’s like a diary that drones on and on and on. I expected so much more from this author.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
emotional
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A