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shirleytupperfreeman's review against another edition
I had mixed emotions about this one. It's the story of a mother, a daughter and the relationship between the two. The mother was an opera singer, the daughter at long last a writer and their relationship difficult but close. The three voices (mother, daughter, relationship) are beautifully written. They just weren't my kind of peeps, as they say.
pammoore's review against another edition
3.0
It pains me to give this one a mere three stars, considering I LOVE Elizabeth Crane aka Betsy. (We're Instagram friends. And by that I mean I stalk her on IG and she has no idea who I am). She is one of my favorite authors; she's quirky, funny, crazy (in a good way!), and such a sharp observer of details. But... I just couldn't get into this book. It started off moderately and then kind of petered out. I just wasn't compelled to keep turning pages. I ended up skimming the final 20% or so. The writing is still funny and weird (good weird) but I didn't feel there was enough tension to keep the story moving forward. And as much I appreciated the way she mixed fiction and memoir and alternated perspectives, I found it hard to keep track of who was narrating. Betsy and Lois' voices were so similar.. Which made sense b/c Betsy was telling both sides of the story.. but I don't know how many times I had to remind myself "Okay, this is Betsy telling Lois' kind-of story as if she were Lois and it's Betsy imagining how Lois would tell her half of the story if she were still alive and if she fictionalized it some." I consider myself a smart person but this was mentally fatiguing after a while. Just started Turf. I'm not giving up on Crane. I will always love her other work, particularly When the Messenger is Hot.
tasharobinson's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed the style of this book a fair bit, but I found the premise kind of inconsistent and unsatisfying. The idea is that an adult daughter and her dead mother are inventing stories about each other's pasts, and laying out a family history that's at least partially fictional, and possibly entirely fictional. My problem is largely that as a reader, I didn't always have the tools to figure out which was which. They critique each other's stories occasionally, but not enough to really develop the theme. At times it becomes clear that the mother, especially, is engaging in wholesale wish-fulfillment. Is any of this the "real" story? Maybe it shouldn't matter, since it's fiction, but when the book dropped all the conceits and just told what at least seemed to be a consistent, coherent story, I found it more engaging and interesting, because I wasn't interrogating every moment. There's something perverse about what could be a perfectly functioning novel adding in all these self-questioning moments to implicate readers in turning it into a dysfunctional novel where they can't necessarily believe anything the narrators say.
carlythurm's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
smiley938's review against another edition
4.0
The external convo between mother and daughter and the confusing you vs I pronouns took some getting used to, but once I did, this was an enjoyable and original read. I don't know that the execution was totally successful, but it's definitely unique. It made a lot more sense when I read the P.S. and realized the book was semi-autobiographical.
kklemaster's review against another edition
5.0
There is something subtly enchanting about this book.. not quite a novel, not quite a memoir, kinda epistolary, definitely meta. I'll be thinking about the questions it raises for a long time, questions like how much do we really know or not know the people we love, the people whose lives parallel and intersect and diverge from ours, most (or least?) of all our mothers, and what extreme levels of empathy would it take in order to understand such things?
trashkatchewan's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
deannah's review against another edition
1.0
Did not finish. Couldn't finish. Didn't want to finish. Made it 44% through and only because it was for book club.
I am surprised at the high ratings for this book. It kind of makes me wonder whether people rated this highly because they *thought* it should be? I don't care how acclaimed the author or this book is supposed to be. It was painful trying to figure out who was talking, whose story was being told (daughter/mother), what time period we were in, etc. The lack of traditional formatting, etc., might be seen as cool/edgy/avant-garde. I found it distracting and pointless.
I feel like this might be a fun writing exercise, but as a novel to publish and inflict upon readers? No. Also, if the stories that mother/daughter were making up about each other were actually fictional (but believable), do your daughter a service and make her sound more appealing. I had no desire to read about her fictional messed up existence in second person.
Also due to the fact that it was written sort of stream of consciousness/listing of events/etc., there was no relationship developed between the reader and the characters. (At least not on my part.) Which them makes it less likely that I am going to carry on reading about them with all the other distractions/obstacles like formating, etc.
I am surprised at the high ratings for this book. It kind of makes me wonder whether people rated this highly because they *thought* it should be? I don't care how acclaimed the author or this book is supposed to be. It was painful trying to figure out who was talking, whose story was being told (daughter/mother), what time period we were in, etc. The lack of traditional formatting, etc., might be seen as cool/edgy/avant-garde. I found it distracting and pointless.
I feel like this might be a fun writing exercise, but as a novel to publish and inflict upon readers? No. Also, if the stories that mother/daughter were making up about each other were actually fictional (but believable), do your daughter a service and make her sound more appealing. I had no desire to read about her fictional messed up existence in second person.
Also due to the fact that it was written sort of stream of consciousness/listing of events/etc., there was no relationship developed between the reader and the characters. (At least not on my part.) Which them makes it less likely that I am going to carry on reading about them with all the other distractions/obstacles like formating, etc.
caitlinbarasch's review against another edition
3.0
Original premise, warm and engaging voice, memorable characters. I was mesmerized by this novel of autofiction (?) throughout most of its narrative - however, some of the chapters felt unnecessary and/or repetitive and as a result the momentum suffered and my interest dwindled.
Overall, though, a very enjoyable book. I laughed out loud quite a few times (always a plus).
Overall, though, a very enjoyable book. I laughed out loud quite a few times (always a plus).
wanderinggnome's review against another edition
4.0
This was a very quick read. I particularly enjoyed the structure of the novel - a mother and daughter writing and commenting on their versions of each other's stories. Also, it made me laugh out loud several times on the subway.