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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
A fun read. Well written with well developed characters and enough interesting references to New York in the late 30s that keep one wanting for more.
emotional
funny
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:
Yes
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Simply AMAZING!! Best book I have read all summer. Fabulous characters, beautiful prose, wonderful setting. I could not put it down. I think I would have been quite happy in 1938 New York!
Loved...loved...loved it. This book was able to transport me back to the end of the 1930's. Right before World War II and the end of the Depression. I saw New York City in all of it's glory and met some characters that I won't soon forget.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
This book was recommended to me by a co-worker who knew I had a soft spot for F. Scott Fitzgerald, and she thought this had a similar feel.
I have to say, she was right. The setting of the book is New York in 1938, with a view into the upper echelons of "society" people in NY. The main character/narrator is Katie Content, a single woman in her early 20s, and the book revolves around a single year in her life, beginning with she and her best friend, Evie, ringing in 1938 at a jazz club on New Year's Eve.
There isn't a lot of action driving the plot, which I could understand bothering some people. I didn't mind it, because I was too busy trying to understand Katie and those that she interacted with. I was constantly trying to read between the lines and figure out the motivations of certain characters. Katie herself, even as the narrator, tends to hold her cards close to her chest and I found myself constantly wondering how she felt about certain things, knowing full well how I felt about them (usually).
There were characters I loved (Tinker, Dickey, Wallace, Hank) and characters I couldn't stand (also sometimes Tinker, Evie, Anne Grandin), but I liked that I felt strongly about them. And I really appreciated how they were developed. Sometimes I had to stop and remind myself that we were still in the same year, and it just reminded me how much can happen in a short time. A couple of months can seem like a lifetime, even when you're thinking back on them.
The story was written beautifully. I loved the language and the descriptions of things. The fact that there was a bit of distance kept between the story and the reader only made the language and story more powerful, I think. The fact that Katie found herself in the company of so many well-to-do New Yorkers affected the story as well, because those higher society types rarely say what they mean. It was a peek into a very different world, and it could be both thrilling and frustrating.
I thought the epilogue was fantastic, and a great way to end the story, with Katie both updating the reader on what happened to some of those key characters from 1938, and also reflecting on her life, and that year in particular. I found her final reflections to be really true and powerful, and it was a perfect ending for me.
I have to say, she was right. The setting of the book is New York in 1938, with a view into the upper echelons of "society" people in NY. The main character/narrator is Katie Content, a single woman in her early 20s, and the book revolves around a single year in her life, beginning with she and her best friend, Evie, ringing in 1938 at a jazz club on New Year's Eve.
There isn't a lot of action driving the plot, which I could understand bothering some people. I didn't mind it, because I was too busy trying to understand Katie and those that she interacted with. I was constantly trying to read between the lines and figure out the motivations of certain characters. Katie herself, even as the narrator, tends to hold her cards close to her chest and I found myself constantly wondering how she felt about certain things, knowing full well how I felt about them (usually).
There were characters I loved (Tinker, Dickey, Wallace, Hank) and characters I couldn't stand (also sometimes Tinker, Evie, Anne Grandin), but I liked that I felt strongly about them. And I really appreciated how they were developed. Sometimes I had to stop and remind myself that we were still in the same year, and it just reminded me how much can happen in a short time. A couple of months can seem like a lifetime, even when you're thinking back on them.
The story was written beautifully. I loved the language and the descriptions of things. The fact that there was a bit of distance kept between the story and the reader only made the language and story more powerful, I think. The fact that Katie found herself in the company of so many well-to-do New Yorkers affected the story as well, because those higher society types rarely say what they mean. It was a peek into a very different world, and it could be both thrilling and frustrating.
I thought the epilogue was fantastic, and a great way to end the story, with Katie both updating the reader on what happened to some of those key characters from 1938, and also reflecting on her life, and that year in particular. I found her final reflections to be really true and powerful, and it was a perfect ending for me.
hopeful
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:
Yes
Meh. There's some quality writing here but the story didn't add up to much for me.
Parts of this book I would rate a 5 and others a 3. It was alternately really, really good and really, really mediocre and slow. I enjoyed the ending and found it to be satisfying and not at all what I expected.