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evawhite's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, and Addiction
novelvisits's review against another edition
5.0
{My Thoughts}
What Worked For Me
Fiona’s Narration – In the Skinner family there were four children, Renee, Caroline, Joe and Fiona. Fiona, the youngest tells the story of her family from a ripe old age of 102. The year is 2079 and Fiona, a renowned poet is giving a presentation where she’d asked about her most famous work The Love Poem. The timing is right and circumstances are such that Fiona finally decides to tell the whole story of the inspiration behind that poem. In doing so, Fiona also shares the unusual story of her family’s life. This structure ended up working beautifully. While Fiona was focused on her own perspective the story unfolded in first person, but from a very intimate place Fiona was also able to tell the stories of each of her sibling, their triumphs and struggles. The focus in The Last Romantics moved from sibling to sibling, but the others were always also present. Fiona’s narration unfolded like a love letter to her family.
Character Driven Story – Every single one of the characters in The Last Romantics was vivid and real. Conklin did a beautiful job creating characters that you really felt like you knew and always wanted to know more about. In the opening, just after their father has died, the four siblings are forced to raise themselves for several years as their mother essentially drops out of life during that time. The life they lived then set the stage for the rest of the novel as each character moved through life with their mother’s long “Pause” never being forgotten. Unlike many other novels, these kids forgave their mother’s extended mental absence, and forever sought to protect her. Like the rings from a rock tossed into a pond, throughout the book whatever happened to one character tended to affect them all.
“I believe this was the moment when we each assumed responsibility for our brother, Joe. A lifelong obligation of love that each of us, for different reasons, would not fulfill. We would try: Renee in her studied, worrisome way; Caroline carelessly with great bursts of energy followed by distraction; and myself, assuming that Joe would never need me, not in the way that I needed him. Years later this assumption would prove to be wrong. But by then it would be too late.”
If you were to ask which of the siblings I liked the most, I couldn’t say. I liked them all for their strengths, their weaknesses and their love for each other.
Manifestations of Grief – Like any family saga, grief plays a role in The Last Romantics, and Conklin continually highlighted how that looks different on everyone. From the “Pause,” to Joe’s continual longing to see his father once again, and much more, each character experienced and dealt with their grief in very different ways. It moved me and was always on point.
“Friends and family milled around us, and yet each of us stood in that space alone. It was as though the care we had shown each other as children had been revealed as faulty, flawed, riddled with holes. Now we avoided any interaction that reminded us of what we once assumed ourselves to be”
Full Circle Story – The Last Romantics began in 2079, but spent most of its time in 1980-2010. Periodically, Conklin returned the reader to the future and also ended there. I liked these brief interludes into another time and felt like they set the ideal tone for this book.
What Didn’t
An Epilogue Without the Moniker – The last several pages of this book filled in all the details of what happened to the many characters in The Last Romantics during the 50 years not covered in the book. While it didn’t take anything away from the rest of the story, I didn’t need to know those details. For me, Conklin’s book was already complete without it. However, lovers of epilogues will appreciate this I’m sure.
{The Final Assessment}
The Last Romantics was truly a great family love story, and isn’t that really the best sort of love story? The characters were rich, the sibling bonds amazing, and the handling of grief powerful. It was one of those books where I couldn’t stop reading, but also didn’t want to finish. It’s my first book hangover of 2019. I’ve got some pretty amazing reading ahead of me if The Last Romantics doesn’t make my Top Ten Books of 2019. Grade: A
For more reviews and other bookish news: https://novelvisits.com/
What Worked For Me
Fiona’s Narration – In the Skinner family there were four children, Renee, Caroline, Joe and Fiona. Fiona, the youngest tells the story of her family from a ripe old age of 102. The year is 2079 and Fiona, a renowned poet is giving a presentation where she’d asked about her most famous work The Love Poem. The timing is right and circumstances are such that Fiona finally decides to tell the whole story of the inspiration behind that poem. In doing so, Fiona also shares the unusual story of her family’s life. This structure ended up working beautifully. While Fiona was focused on her own perspective the story unfolded in first person, but from a very intimate place Fiona was also able to tell the stories of each of her sibling, their triumphs and struggles. The focus in The Last Romantics moved from sibling to sibling, but the others were always also present. Fiona’s narration unfolded like a love letter to her family.
Character Driven Story – Every single one of the characters in The Last Romantics was vivid and real. Conklin did a beautiful job creating characters that you really felt like you knew and always wanted to know more about. In the opening, just after their father has died, the four siblings are forced to raise themselves for several years as their mother essentially drops out of life during that time. The life they lived then set the stage for the rest of the novel as each character moved through life with their mother’s long “Pause” never being forgotten. Unlike many other novels, these kids forgave their mother’s extended mental absence, and forever sought to protect her. Like the rings from a rock tossed into a pond, throughout the book whatever happened to one character tended to affect them all.
“I believe this was the moment when we each assumed responsibility for our brother, Joe. A lifelong obligation of love that each of us, for different reasons, would not fulfill. We would try: Renee in her studied, worrisome way; Caroline carelessly with great bursts of energy followed by distraction; and myself, assuming that Joe would never need me, not in the way that I needed him. Years later this assumption would prove to be wrong. But by then it would be too late.”
If you were to ask which of the siblings I liked the most, I couldn’t say. I liked them all for their strengths, their weaknesses and their love for each other.
Manifestations of Grief – Like any family saga, grief plays a role in The Last Romantics, and Conklin continually highlighted how that looks different on everyone. From the “Pause,” to Joe’s continual longing to see his father once again, and much more, each character experienced and dealt with their grief in very different ways. It moved me and was always on point.
“Friends and family milled around us, and yet each of us stood in that space alone. It was as though the care we had shown each other as children had been revealed as faulty, flawed, riddled with holes. Now we avoided any interaction that reminded us of what we once assumed ourselves to be”
Full Circle Story – The Last Romantics began in 2079, but spent most of its time in 1980-2010. Periodically, Conklin returned the reader to the future and also ended there. I liked these brief interludes into another time and felt like they set the ideal tone for this book.
What Didn’t
An Epilogue Without the Moniker – The last several pages of this book filled in all the details of what happened to the many characters in The Last Romantics during the 50 years not covered in the book. While it didn’t take anything away from the rest of the story, I didn’t need to know those details. For me, Conklin’s book was already complete without it. However, lovers of epilogues will appreciate this I’m sure.
{The Final Assessment}
The Last Romantics was truly a great family love story, and isn’t that really the best sort of love story? The characters were rich, the sibling bonds amazing, and the handling of grief powerful. It was one of those books where I couldn’t stop reading, but also didn’t want to finish. It’s my first book hangover of 2019. I’ve got some pretty amazing reading ahead of me if The Last Romantics doesn’t make my Top Ten Books of 2019. Grade: A
For more reviews and other bookish news: https://novelvisits.com/
amandae129's review against another edition
4.0
Thank you to the publisher and Edelweiss for an ARC.
reaganmc's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
nashmtb's review against another edition
4.0
Why didn't people understand the responsibility that came with being the subject of someone's love?
When I first saw this book, I had a feeling that I needed to read it. The story about the four siblings captured me and made me feel so many emotions. Reading about The Pause was probably one of the most painful things I’ve read in a book but it was what I probably enjoyed the most about this one. The characters are so well written, I even felt like that was my own family and that they were real people. I also truly felt that I cared about them, specially for Joe. The connection I felt to them was too strong that I cried many times while reading this. Tara Conklin is brilliant, and her writing style is mesmerizing.
--------------------------------------------
4 stars but feel like more
When I first saw this book, I had a feeling that I needed to read it. The story about the four siblings captured me and made me feel so many emotions. Reading about The Pause was probably one of the most painful things I’ve read in a book but it was what I probably enjoyed the most about this one. The characters are so well written, I even felt like that was my own family and that they were real people. I also truly felt that I cared about them, specially for Joe. The connection I felt to them was too strong that I cried many times while reading this. Tara Conklin is brilliant, and her writing style is mesmerizing.
--------------------------------------------
4 stars but feel like more
oli_par's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
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
5.0
carlywalker's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
briehettinga's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars-it was slow for me to get into, but the end brought everything together for a nice wrapped up ending.