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thisreadingcorner's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The crew:
* Julian - octogenarian artist finding that his glamorous youth can’t compensate for a lonely retirement
* Monica - compulsive cafe owner wondering if her ticking clock means her best has come and gone
* Hazard - retired finance douchebag attempting to turn over a new leaf
* Riley - wandering Aussie gardener “going with the flow” through life and love
* Alice - girl boss turned IG mom/trophy wife wondering if her best and come and gone
* Lizzie - admitted busybody hoping to alleviate some of the glaring dysfunction in these folks
* Mary - ******’s **** come to set the record straight
* The background cast, especially Mrs. Wu and her tai chi
I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book and there’s not too much I can say without spoiling all the fun, but I really enjoyed this. I found myself rooting for Hazard by the end when he was everything I hate at the beginning (it was the grovel for meee). I loved Monica the whole time. Julian was a menace. Riley was predictably self-involved (dictionary definition Himbo), and the other ladies were window dressing. Alice’s sections made me realize I’m good on reading that brand of reflection on motherhood as someone entirely divested 🤷🏾♀️
Read it and tell me what you thought!
Moderate: Addiction
Minor: Death of parent, Sexual content, and Infidelity
sea_tea_books's review against another edition
3.0
This story started off strong, yet eventually fell back into the tired tropes of miscommunication, assumptions, and missed connections.
Audiobook-specific issue: the narrator didn't leave a pause between time jumps so two different timeframes blended into one.
I deducted a star when
3 ⭐
Graphic: Alcohol, Addiction, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Death of parent, Abandonment, and Death
stormeno's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Grief, Addiction, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Outing, and Mental illness
Minor: Homophobia, Sexual content, and Death
beccadilly's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Addiction
sarahaustinf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Took off one star because didn’t like the last ~20% of the book so much. Will look forward to reading anything else she writes!
Moderate: Addiction and Alcoholism
Minor: Death of parent
viwilliams's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Minor: Cancer, Alcoholism, Terminal illness, Infidelity, Death of parent, Homophobia, and Grief
books_withblooms's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Addiction
Moderate: Grief, Alcoholism, Drug use, Death, Cursing, Cancer, Death of parent, and Drug abuse
elieska's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Addiction and Drug use
Moderate: Alcoholism
amyvl93's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Whilst this is a novel that explores some meaty issues; loneliness in all its guises at all ages, addiction, recovery, mental health, grief, failing marriages - all of this is done is a pretty bright and breezy way. However, for the most part it feels like quite a cosy drama that you can envision being a short Christmas film or similar. We see communities being created with nudging from the book through art classes and shared dinners - giving us almost found family vibes. Yes, there are mildly improbable relationships and characters managing to go from bigoted to campaigners in the space of 50 pages; and yes, all these characters inhabit a very specific type of London - the type where everyone can comfortably live in West London despite having either no or low income jobs. Pooley (an ex-advertising director who has also taken a sobriety journey) is clearly very committed to writing what she knows about.
This was looking to be a 3 star read, a sweet little palette cleanser after finally completing A Suitable Boy until the ending 'twists'. Whilst one was clearly bound to happen, the other had me close to throwing the book across the room. As other reviewers have said, it feels like Pooley couldn't quite trust the reader to draw conclusions and had to really hammer home what she thinks authenticity is. I honestly felt a bit cheated.
Moderate: Alcoholism, Outing, and Addiction
rachelpacz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Addiction and Grief
Minor: Death, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug abuse, and Toxic relationship