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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
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
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The sense of humour and the voice of the main narrator (not the audiobook readers, who were great, but how the author wrote her) were not to my taste, but I hate novels about the power of books told through overly bookish characters anyway. However, I needed one to fulfill a reading challenge prompt. I decided to speed up the audiobook and get through it.
I liked the old neighbour Jasper and for the most part enjoyed the the protagonists' siblingsthough I don't understand the purpose of what felt like super on the nose ASD/neurodivergence coding with Noodle while making nothing explicit. Some of the quirks of personality for Jasper felt a little silly, unnecessarily bitter, and had illogical explanations (frisbee hoarding). However, once he started warming up to the kids, those interactions and his growing respect for Chloe became the best part of the book.
Unfortunately, the twist at 2/3 of the way through and then how it is resolved had me crying in frustration for the last hour of listening. The woman from the 1960s couple lets her lover think she and their baby died in childbirth, and lets him keep thinking this for sixty years. For the last quarter of the book the narrative tries to convince the reader that this was a selfless decision and necessary for her to lead the life she wanted. As if there was no way in the intervening years to let the father into his son's life or free him from his completely unnecessary grief without restarting the romanctic relationship. As if the scheme was necessary in the first place! Listening to all the characters be charmed by this woman while decrying the absent mother of the protagonist as the most heinous of bitches was too much. That she is forgiven was absurd. The novel and characters act like her crime to be forgiven was ending her romance, not the LYING ABOUT HER DEATH and KEEPING A MAN FROM HIS SON. She doesn't have to apologise for not wanting to get married or live with Jasper; she does for the selfishness of deciding her momento of their relationship would be a living breathing human being, anfmd his was to be some marginalia in a book she hid in his cabin and a lifetime of grief and guilt. The twist and its resolution swung from melodramatic and unbelievable to anticlimactic and without real reckoning/consequences so quickly that it spoiled all the enjoyment I had got from Noodle and Jasper's friendship.
Despite the premise of a couple leaving each other notes in library books, the story doesn't seem to have anything to say about the power of stories, or at least nothing coherent. The parallels between the the 1960s couple and the books they wrote in felt forced, especially as their character and conflict were contorted to fit the literary references the author wanted to make. The character who led the fullest life with the widest breadth of experience and travel ending the novel talking about books letting her lead different lives/escape rang hollow when again she had let the father of her child believe they were both dead for sixty years. So glad you got to live an exciting life both literally and literarily Catherine; at whose expense was that again? In the context of this story, she was the wrong character to deliver this kind of pat message.
As others mentioned, there were too many points of view, which left the 2020s romance underdeveloped and meant the last third of the book seemed to abandon the main character's siblings and family. One present day and one past POV, or one POV character from each couple, might have helped keep this all more grounded.
I liked the old neighbour Jasper and for the most part enjoyed the the protagonists' siblings
Unfortunately, the twist at 2/3 of the way through and then how it is resolved had me crying in frustration for the last hour of listening.
Despite the premise of a couple leaving each other notes in library books, the story doesn't seem to have anything to say about the power of stories, or at least nothing coherent. The parallels between the the 1960s couple and the books they wrote in felt forced, especially as their character and conflict were contorted to fit the literary references the author wanted to make. The character who led the fullest life with the widest breadth of experience and travel ending the novel talking about books letting her lead different lives/escape rang hollow when again
As others mentioned, there were too many points of view, which left the 2020s romance underdeveloped and meant the last third of the book seemed to abandon the main character's siblings and family. One present day and one past POV, or one POV character from each couple, might have helped keep this all more grounded.
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes