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lpersia's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
michellemjeffers's review against another edition
1.0
mostly just boring. kept waiting for the horrible secret that brings them all back together...it was pretty inconsequential.
nixieknox's review against another edition
2.0
I accept that I bring my own baggage to novels a lot of the time. That said, I wish one character in this would have taken some responsibility for their own happiness! Man, own your shit. The writing was good, the story believable but the characters, wow.
ouashlee's review against another edition
2.0
It was probably more of a 2.5. It wasn't a bad story, I just didn't find any of these characters all that likable.
judyward's review against another edition
3.0
Life never turns out the way we plan it and this reality slaps Eloise Hampel right in the face. Eloise has just started her dream job--teaching at Harvard University--when she gets a call that her only sister and her brother-in-law have been killed in an accident and her mother's coping skills extend only to asking the eldest child who has just lost her parents to call Eloise to come home and take over. Before she knows it, Eloise has given up her life in Boston, moved back to the large, old house in Cincinnati where she grew up, taken a job teaching at a local college, and she is raising her sister's children. Now almost twenty years later, the children, Theodora, Josh, and Claire are grown up and Eloise is at a crossroads. She is academically stagnant, she is involved in a secret relationship, and she is being drained financially by the family home that she desperately wants to sell. The same house that Theodora, Josh, and Claire call home. Leah Stewart examines the issue of what constitutes a family and how family ties are stronger than any of us realize in this engaging book.
dhilderbrand's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely LOVED this book. I only put it down when I passed out - then woke up and kept reading. The characters were so vivid to me. Although the sibling relationships were incredibly different from my own, I still loved following their stories. I wanted to scream and shake the characters on several occasions but I think that is just evidence of how real they all were to me.
I loved the writers portrayal of Cinncinati. I think of St Louis a lot like that city - a midwest thing, I guess. The story so brought the city to life for me.
I cannot wait to read her other novels.
I loved the writers portrayal of Cinncinati. I think of St Louis a lot like that city - a midwest thing, I guess. The story so brought the city to life for me.
I cannot wait to read her other novels.
nbrickman's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted to like this book far more than I did and what it comes down to is essentially too much tell instead of showing and lack of nuanced character development. The heart and truth only seemed to resonate by the last 100 pages for me. I did however enjoy thinking about themes such as how our experiences shape who we are- how we can often use others as an excuse to deny who we are and how we tend to define ourselves by the idea of home and the places we think truly say who we are.
anniere73's review against another edition
3.0
The book just seemed to drag on without going anywhere. The characters weren't engaging at all and seemed self centered and whiny.
keelygorski's review against another edition
3.0
Good read, I give it 3.5 stars. I kind of hope the author decides to do a sequel. I would love to see where the characters land since the ending left them in a place of uncertainty.