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jhbandcats's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I love this book. First of all, I love the cover of the four flowers, one still a bud. I love the ease and the detail of the writing. I love the in-depth characterization. I love the complex plot. I love how Korelitz gradually, gradually reveals the depth of her characters.
This is a complicated multi-generational story of a deeply flawed family, with almost all the members miserable and hating one another. For the author to be able to take such frequently unpleasant characters and make the reader care about them is quite the talent. She skewers the ultra rich yet is able to show even the annoying and unpleasant characters with sympathy. Lots to learn here about modern art, too.
I’d read The Plot, a convoluted mystery, and as I kept reading this, I kept wondering when the mystery was going to start. (I assumed Korelitz wrote only mysteries.) It was only when I was 2/3 through the book that I realized the whole thing was a mystery, the mystery of people growing up, no matter their age, interacting with one another, and coming to accept themselves.
This is a complicated multi-generational story of a deeply flawed family, with almost all the members miserable and hating one another. For the author to be able to take such frequently unpleasant characters and make the reader care about them is quite the talent. She skewers the ultra rich yet is able to show even the annoying and unpleasant characters with sympathy. Lots to learn here about modern art, too.
I’d read The Plot, a convoluted mystery, and as I kept reading this, I kept wondering when the mystery was going to start. (I assumed Korelitz wrote only mysteries.) It was only when I was 2/3 through the book that I realized the whole thing was a mystery, the mystery of people growing up, no matter their age, interacting with one another, and coming to accept themselves.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Car accident, Classism, Grief, Infertility, Outing, Racism, Mental illness, and Antisemitism
mysterymom40's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Car accident, and Cultural appropriation
Moderate: Bullying, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, Murder, Outing, Mental illness, Racism, Death of parent, Infidelity, Classism, Infertility, Antisemitism, Violence, and Pregnancy
tara_valeria's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity, Outing, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Death of parent
franklola's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Car accident, Death, Infidelity, and Infertility
Moderate: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Outing
tara3117's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I was excited for this book because I loved The Plot last year and then I found out that Julia Whalen narrated the audiobook. She said in an interview that a certain plot point made her stand up in shock. That's all my favorite words!
But...
This book didn't have any of those effects on me. I get that the language used was a whole mood unto itself and I'm fine with that. But it was very formal and at times off-putting, especially when you find out that the narrator is 17 . If she was an aspiring journalist or something, that would be one thing, but she isn't and I can't figure out why this read like an essay when it wasn't.
The book is too long. None of the characters are likable, at least through the first 2/3. You can kind of feel for Johanna because she got the raw deal time and time again, but I feel like there's more she could have done. She spends most of the book in denial. I didn't like the implication that the 3 triplets didn't have a bond because they were conceived through IVF. I'm pretty sure most IVF multiples would say differently. I didn't need to hear all the recounting of how awful they were to each other in high school and college. A few stories would have been fine, but this was too much and too long. For as long as it was, it had one of the least satisfying endings. Rachelle left the island the night after her wedding? The only thing they all did together was drop Pheobe off for her weirdo college? She even wanted to go to the same school as Harrison? I call BS on the whole thing.
Here's the big part that is really bothering me. School was in session on September 11th. I get that the triplet's birthday is September 10th (which I don't think we knew until the end?) but in reality, they would have had to celebrate their birthday early because they definitely would have had class on their birthday. Maybe not Harrison, but Cornell was definitely back. You're set up to think that maybe this is Labor Day weekend and then you don't know it isn't until Salo dies. It just really bothered me that we're supposed to suspend belief about something that we all lived through. Those of us who are the triplets' age lived through it in our dorms like Sally and Lewin would have. I'm not mad that she killed him off in 9/11, just that the whole set up of it is completely wrong.
But...
This book didn't have any of those effects on me. I get that the language used was a whole mood unto itself and I'm fine with that. But it was very formal and at times off-putting, especially when you find out that the narrator is 17 . If she was an aspiring journalist or something, that would be one thing, but she isn't and I can't figure out why this read like an essay when it wasn't.
The book is too long. None of the characters are likable, at least through the first 2/3. You can kind of feel for Johanna because she got the raw deal time and time again, but I feel like there's more she could have done. She spends most of the book in denial. I didn't like the implication that the 3 triplets didn't have a bond because they were conceived through IVF. I'm pretty sure most IVF multiples would say differently. I didn't need to hear all the recounting of how awful they were to each other in high school and college. A few stories would have been fine, but this was too much and too long. For as long as it was, it had one of the least satisfying endings. Rachelle left the island the night after her wedding? The only thing they all did together was drop Pheobe off for her weirdo college? She even wanted to go to the same school as Harrison? I call BS on the whole thing.
Here's the big part that is really bothering me. School was in session on September 11th. I get that the triplet's birthday is September 10th (which I don't think we knew until the end?) but in reality, they would have had to celebrate their birthday early because they definitely would have had class on their birthday. Maybe not Harrison, but Cornell was definitely back. You're set up to think that maybe this is Labor Day weekend and then you don't know it isn't until Salo dies. It just really bothered me that we're supposed to suspend belief about something that we all lived through. Those of us who are the triplets' age lived through it in our dorms like Sally and Lewin would have. I'm not mad that she killed him off in 9/11, just that the whole set up of it is completely wrong.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Infertility, Death of parent, and Infidelity
Moderate: Car accident, Miscarriage, and Outing
readandsip's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
✨🌹 BOOK REVIEW: The Latecomer 🌹✨
Thanks to @netgalley for gifting me the audio arc of #thelatecomer!
Author: Jean Hanff Korelitz
Genre: literary fiction
Mood: emotional, reflective, challenging
Rating: ⭐️⭐️.5/5
#readandsiprecommends to read if you:
•only go to family holidays for the drama
•like when you dislike all the characters
•want something that brings you back to your college days
Review: I’ve seen some rave reviews of this one and I’ll just say it wasn’t for me. The storytelling jumped around a bit too much and it was hard to follow between characters and timelines.
For the title and description being on the “latecomer” child you really don’t get any of her story, which is sort of what I was expecting the focus to be. Instead you get a deep dive into each of the Oppenheimer triplets’ stories. Each of them is interesting in their own way, though backstories are totally drawn out in detail in my opinion. I also had a hard time connecting with why they hate each other so much. There wasn’t a ton of back story they just seemed to treat each other poorly from the start and couldn’t wait to get away from one another.
I did find the fast forward to present day toward the end interesting to see where the triplets ended up and get more on the latecomer child.
This is well-written and the audio was engaging, I just don’t think this story is for me. I’m definitely glad I did this one as an audio during a long car ride, because I don’t know if I could have stuck through it otherwise.
🚨 TW: infertility, infidelity, outing, religious bigotry, car accident
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Outing, Car accident, and Infertility
onemorepagecrew's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
My goodness, this book was a commitment. I adore literary fiction, especially deep family stories, and I choose character over plot any day. That said, this book was dense and hard to get through, and the characters were challenging to form a bond with.
In this book we meet the Oppenheimer family, a wealthy Jewish American family living in New York City. We see the parents’ relationship as well as their lives outside their relationship, and we follow their children through childhood into adulthood. There’s not a strong familial bond in any direction for majority of the book and it’s essentially a collection of individual experiences.
The development is intentionally slow and if I am looking neutrally at the writing, it’s effective. My challenge as a reader was that each character in the first 80% of the book was going out of their way to be unlikeable. They’re cruel at times and it’s clear they know there will be no serious consequences. By the end, as more characters are given the floor and the initial characters evolve, I was too lost on everyone to feel a redemption arc.
The last 15-20% of the book was offbeat. The pace accelerated, attempts at personal growth were too packaged, the “twists” were sad and out of place, and it was disarming compared to the extremely slow pace in the beginning.
The topics that the book tried to tackle were all big – grief, infidelity, infertility, generational trauma, racism, privilege, religion, LGBTQ+ identity. I love and intentionally seek out books that illuminate these experiences, but ultimately it was not great to see them through the lives of the Oppenheimers.
For me, this wasn’t it. I didn’t have an issue with the slow pace or book length, and it wasn’t just that the characters were unlikeable and unapologetic. The Paper Palace had both of those elements and I really enjoyed that book. Ultimately, it was the combination of topics this book addresses being told through these characters.
Content warnings: Infertility, Death of parent, LGBTQ+ Outing, Racism, Religious bigotry, Infidelity, Abandonment
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Religious bigotry, Infertility, and Outing
Moderate: Death of parent, Abandonment, and Infidelity
savvyrosereads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Out May 31, 2022 [Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review!]
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
The Latecomer is the sweeping tale of the evolution of an unusual, and extremely complicated, family—Johanna and Salo Oppenheimer and their triplets and, later, fourth child— that doesn’t always consider itself a family at all.
In many ways, this book chronicles a slow evolution of many characters, which perhaps makes it apt that my reading experience was something of an evolution as well. In the beginning, I was entertained but felt the book was an undeniably slow build. By the middle, I was charmed by the Wes Anderson/Royal Tenenbaums vibes and cheerfully reading along to see where things went. In the turn to the final section I was thoroughly gut punched, to the point where I sat up straight and just stared at the page for several seconds, blinking wildly. By the end, I was thoroughly obsessed with this book.
It’s hard for me to say too much about why I loved The Latecomer without giving things away, and I firmly feel that everyone should go in blind. But what I can say is this book is brilliantly written, sharp, smart, funny, and layered, and I will not soon forget the story it tells or the journey it took me on. It’s rare for me to be so thoroughly pulled in by a character-driven novel, but the characters are so perfectly rendered (even Harrison, who I regularly wanted to punch), and all the small threads that pulled the story together were so beautifully and intricately woven that once I started to spot them I was completely and entirely captivated. I’m entirely sure that I will be marveling at this book and my experience of it for years to come.
Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: literary fiction that packs major twists; family drama with deep character sketches; intricately evolving stories.
CW: Infertility; infidelity; racism; anti-Semitism; some discussions of mental illness.
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
The Latecomer is the sweeping tale of the evolution of an unusual, and extremely complicated, family—Johanna and Salo Oppenheimer and their triplets and, later, fourth child— that doesn’t always consider itself a family at all.
In many ways, this book chronicles a slow evolution of many characters, which perhaps makes it apt that my reading experience was something of an evolution as well. In the beginning, I was entertained but felt the book was an undeniably slow build. By the middle, I was charmed by the Wes Anderson/Royal Tenenbaums vibes and cheerfully reading along to see where things went. In the turn to the final section I was thoroughly gut punched, to the point where I sat up straight and just stared at the page for several seconds, blinking wildly. By the end, I was thoroughly obsessed with this book.
It’s hard for me to say too much about why I loved The Latecomer without giving things away, and I firmly feel that everyone should go in blind. But what I can say is this book is brilliantly written, sharp, smart, funny, and layered, and I will not soon forget the story it tells or the journey it took me on. It’s rare for me to be so thoroughly pulled in by a character-driven novel, but the characters are so perfectly rendered (even Harrison, who I regularly wanted to punch), and all the small threads that pulled the story together were so beautifully and intricately woven that once I started to spot them I was completely and entirely captivated. I’m entirely sure that I will be marveling at this book and my experience of it for years to come.
Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: literary fiction that packs major twists; family drama with deep character sketches; intricately evolving stories.
CW: Infertility; infidelity; racism; anti-Semitism; some discussions of mental illness.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Outing, Infidelity, Infertility, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Car accident
Minor: Abandonment
carolibrary's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Miscarriage, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Infertility, and Outing
kaylasbookgram's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Thank you Celadon Books for the advanced copy for my honest review.
This book touched so many topics from mental health to racism to religion. I thoroughly enjoyed the story but the slow build is not for me especially in bigger books. Which is why I’m giving it a 3⭐️ for I liked it. The genres on Goodreads says this is a mystery/thriller but I didn’t get that vibe at all so I wouldn’t suggest it for someone looking for that specific genre.
This book touched so many topics from mental health to racism to religion. I thoroughly enjoyed the story but the slow build is not for me especially in bigger books. Which is why I’m giving it a 3⭐️ for I liked it. The genres on Goodreads says this is a mystery/thriller but I didn’t get that vibe at all so I wouldn’t suggest it for someone looking for that specific genre.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Grief, Infertility, Mental illness, Outing, Pregnancy, and Racism
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