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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I would give this book a 3 1/2 stars. I enjoyed the story. It's a realistic fiction about a woman who develops an addiction to pain medication. The author describes a lot which I found myself skipping just to get through because I wanted to find out what happens next. I was going to give it 4 stars but dropped it down because the ending. It just ended and I was hoping for more.
This book was hard to read. First because she's a working mother, my age, having a rough time dealing with her daughter and her activities, work, her relationship with her husband and the difficulties of aging parents. Then she finally gets caught and sent to rehab, and that was hard to read because, rehab. Then suddenly she's out and you're all, wait, what happened during the rest of rehab? Oh, looks like she's figuring things out, so we're done here? Over all, not bad. Just difficult.
I'm not really sure how I feel about this book. The main character was very self-centered and annoying. The story became more interesting in part 3 and 4, but all in all the book was just okay.
My first Jennifer Weiner and if every book is as well written as this one, I've just found a new favorite author!!!
I have a soft spot for addiction memoirs and this fiction work was like an addiction memoir a bit. Same kind of arc but you got more of the "in the moment feel" versus the "looking back, piecing together" aspect like a memoir.
I talked to my husband about the main character: Allison. I don't live in a world of Jimmy Choo shoes, McMansions, and name dropping brands or that social hierarchy that people use to measure themselves with the amount of money they spend on athletic wear. It's hard for me to relate to that. I wondered what would have happened if Weiner had set this book in the middle class or in a lower socioeconomic level. But then, it goes from being a "Allison can't get her life together" book to a sad book and social commentary. It can still be used as social commentary but it's less tragic in a way if the main character can buy her way out of her addiction??? If rehab was $1,000/day without the extras, Allison was expected to be spend at least $28,000 for treatment. That thought alone was quite sobering and not something that most people can afford.
It would be easy to hate on Allison but I actually liked her, especially as she started stripping off her mask layers and dug down deep. I HATED her daughter at the beginning but actually grew to like Ellie towards the end. Some of the things that I thought were a little over the top at the beginning really wrapped up well in the end, which is probably why I loved this book.
I hope this work of fiction is a wake up call to readers. If nothing else, to know that you don't have to do everything yourself.
I have a soft spot for addiction memoirs and this fiction work was like an addiction memoir a bit. Same kind of arc but you got more of the "in the moment feel" versus the "looking back, piecing together" aspect like a memoir.
I talked to my husband about the main character: Allison. I don't live in a world of Jimmy Choo shoes, McMansions, and name dropping brands or that social hierarchy that people use to measure themselves with the amount of money they spend on athletic wear. It's hard for me to relate to that. I wondered what would have happened if Weiner had set this book in the middle class or in a lower socioeconomic level. But then, it goes from being a "Allison can't get her life together" book to a sad book and social commentary. It can still be used as social commentary but it's less tragic in a way if the main character can buy her way out of her addiction??? If rehab was $1,000/day without the extras, Allison was expected to be spend at least $28,000 for treatment. That thought alone was quite sobering and not something that most people can afford.
It would be easy to hate on Allison but I actually liked her, especially as she started stripping off her mask layers and dug down deep. I HATED her daughter at the beginning but actually grew to like Ellie towards the end. Some of the things that I thought were a little over the top at the beginning really wrapped up well in the end, which is probably why I loved this book.
I hope this work of fiction is a wake up call to readers. If nothing else, to know that you don't have to do everything yourself.
fast-paced
For the first 50 pages of this I wanted to DNF, after that I got into the story and then for the last 150 pages I wanted to throw this book against the wall. This book had potential, espically when delving into modern motherhood and how ex career women deal with the guilt of feeling unhappy when they get what they had always wanted. I wished thar Weiner had spent more time examing how women can feel isolated, empty, lonely, and lost in the monotony of motherhood while attempting to protray a perfect image. I understand that Weiner was trying to show how addiction can happen to the upper middle class but to me it came off very "white privileged \first world problems". I was left not feeling any connection to Allison or her addiction.
This is the first book that I've read about addiction. It gave me a glimpse of what addicts go through. Great characters and storyline.
Not sure if it was because I could not relate or if I was just not interested in the subject matter but I never could seem to get too into this one. I usually love a quick and easy 'chick lit' beach read but this one did not do it for me. Never got too attached to the main character, I would have liked the relationships in her life to have been explored in more detail.
Chick lit, much like YA isn't my thing but seriously why would anyone care about a mommyblogger that can't handle blogging 5 days a week (oh the horror)? Both the main character and her child are beyond annoying, and I don't understand the plot device of making motherhood seem like the most miserable life choice ever. Clearly, I'm not the target demographic but everything about this book annoyed me.