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tea_tales_tomes's review
3.0
A perfectly forgettable story. There wasn't anything wrong about it, it was just kind bland and kinda meh. I liked that the protanonist was older than your typical female lead (she's 53 when the book starts) and that the story was not really run of the mill. There were moments of brilliance in the writing but those were so few and far between that it caught me by surprise. I would like to read more from this author because I feel like she is going to get better and better but this book just didn't hit all the marks. Also, the narrator was quite bad. All the female characters had a really whiny tilt to their voices and all the males sounded like teenage boys ridden with angst. The narrator did a surprisingly excellent and spot on Italian male voice but that was probably for 5 minutes of the entire book and did not redeem that other 7 hours or so or screechy female.
bellebookblog's review against another edition
5.0
This was my first book of Ms. Pagan’s but certainly not my last. I fell in love with Maggie, Adam, Zoe, Jack and Gerta from the beginning. When Adam said he wanted a divorce because he fell in love with someone else by the name of Jillian Smith. I was angry for Maggie and her kids and wanted to kick Adam’s butt. When Adam was invited over for a last family Thanksgiving, it broke my heart because I was sad for everyone involved but most of all for Maggie, She fell in love with Adam and expected him to uphold their vows.
When he revealed that he had an affair with Jillian Smith, I wanted Maggie to kill him. She got him back when the travel agent called and said that their trip to Rome was coming up. I love the fact that Maggie went and made a friend named Jean, an artist spending a month in a Rome then onto Florence. I literally laughed out loud when Maggie and Benito, the tour guide went out on a date then went back to his apartment. On Maggie’s last day in Rome, Jean offered her the option to stay in her home in Ann Arbor just to get some distance from the situation with Adam.
This book made me laugh, cry, and get angry all at once. I highly recommend this book
When he revealed that he had an affair with Jillian Smith, I wanted Maggie to kill him. She got him back when the travel agent called and said that their trip to Rome was coming up. I love the fact that Maggie went and made a friend named Jean, an artist spending a month in a Rome then onto Florence. I literally laughed out loud when Maggie and Benito, the tour guide went out on a date then went back to his apartment. On Maggie’s last day in Rome, Jean offered her the option to stay in her home in Ann Arbor just to get some distance from the situation with Adam.
This book made me laugh, cry, and get angry all at once. I highly recommend this book
bellebookblog's review
5.0
This was my first book of Ms. Pagan’s but certainly not my last. I fell in love with Maggie, Adam, Zoe, Jack and Gerta from the beginning. When Adam said he wanted a divorce because he fell in love with someone else by the name of Jillian Smith. I was angry for Maggie and her kids and wanted to kick Adam’s butt. When Adam was invited over for a last family Thanksgiving, it broke my heart because I was sad for everyone involved but most of all for Maggie, She fell in love with Adam and expected him to uphold their vows.
When he revealed that he had an affair with Jillian Smith, I wanted Maggie to kill him. She got him back when the travel agent called and said that their trip to Rome was coming up. I love the fact that Maggie went and made a friend named Jean, an artist spending a month in a Rome then onto Florence. I literally laughed out loud when Maggie and Benito, the tour guide went out on a date then went back to his apartment. On Maggie’s last day in Rome, Jean offered her the option to stay in her home in Ann Arbor just to get some distance from the situation with Adam.
This book made me laugh, cry, and get angry all at once. I highly recommend this book
When he revealed that he had an affair with Jillian Smith, I wanted Maggie to kill him. She got him back when the travel agent called and said that their trip to Rome was coming up. I love the fact that Maggie went and made a friend named Jean, an artist spending a month in a Rome then onto Florence. I literally laughed out loud when Maggie and Benito, the tour guide went out on a date then went back to his apartment. On Maggie’s last day in Rome, Jean offered her the option to stay in her home in Ann Arbor just to get some distance from the situation with Adam.
This book made me laugh, cry, and get angry all at once. I highly recommend this book
lillibooks's review
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
vanessaxrene's review
2.0
Eat, pray, love on a budget. Pretty stereotypical story of a woman in her 50’s who finds out her loving husband of 30 years is having an affair.
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She then heads to Michigan to find herself, and in the process finds a new love and rediscovers her old passions.
.
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Pretty snooze worthy. Maggie is a lovable sap, her ex husband is an asshole who realizes his mistakes and begs for her back. She has to choose between the live she knows and a new love.
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Not terrible but nothing to rave about. 2.5 Stars/ 5
.
.
She then heads to Michigan to find herself, and in the process finds a new love and rediscovers her old passions.
.
.
Pretty snooze worthy. Maggie is a lovable sap, her ex husband is an asshole who realizes his mistakes and begs for her back. She has to choose between the live she knows and a new love.
.
.
Not terrible but nothing to rave about. 2.5 Stars/ 5
anasatticbookblog's review against another edition
3.0
Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties by Camille Pagán
Narrated by Amy McFadden
Womens Fiction with Some Romance. Standalone.
3.5 Stars
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I grabbed Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties by Camille Pagán with my Kindle Unlimited membership because the audio was included. Within the first 10 minutes of listening, I teared up, because Maggie was me.
Maggie is 53. Her kids are grown and moved out, she works part-time as a bookkeeper, and she’s been married for 28 years, thinking she had a happy marriage. Until she is blindsided by her husband wanting a divorce because he’s met someone else.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the Amazing Invisible Woman has finally been spotted! I must admit I was wearing the costume: black shirt, black pants, and bare face mapped with fine lines. And to think I had been waltzing around oblivious to my own superpower all this time.”
Since I’m 54, always wear all black, and just got divorced after 29 years, I was really hoping this would feel empowering. But for most of the book, I felt more sorry for her. Maggie blamed herself, and at first, she was a little pathetic, wishing he’d come back. But then as she traveled and moved, she began to find herself again.
“The problem was not that I had lost the ability to enjoy things. It was that I had lost myself.”
I love that she wasn’t immediately happy. That everything wasn’t perfect. I really liked watching her get stronger on her own, with some very real backsliding.
“When you think you are bypassing heartache, all you’re really doing is borrowing happiness from another day.”
But Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties felt very generic. You basically know the story from the title. There were no surprises, no twists and turns. It was just average. The blurb calls it “hilarious and hopeful”. I can think of maybe one funny moment, and for a lot of the time, it felt a little hopeless.
All in all, if you are a middle-aged woman who is recently divorced, I think you might enjoy this for the relatability, I did enjoy it. But there is nothing that stands out, and if I didn’t review it quickly, I wouldn’t have remembered it.
The Narration:
Amy McFadden was fabulous for this part, and I think she made the story better with her narration.
Rating: 3.5 Stars, 5 Narration
Purchase Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties by Camille Pagan
susanthebookbag's review
5.0
I loved this book! It is a story that probably quite a few of us have been able to relate to at some point in our lives, even for maybe just a little bit. Haven't we all felt somewhat invisible and unappreciated at times?
Maggie's no-good husband, Adam tells her one day that he 'wants a different life.' What the heck? Maggie thought their marriage and their lives were doing just fine. He ups and leaves her and she tries to get on with her life, suddenly realizing that she has no identity—she has been part of a couple for so many years.
There are so many great characters in this book. There's Maggie, of course, as we watch her stumble though her 'new life', and Rose, Maggie's mother-in-law. I loved their relationship and how Maggie didn't give up on Rose, even though Rose's son gave up on Maggie. And then there's Jean, the carefree, adventurous women that Maggie meets on the plane on her way to Rome. Jean takes her under her wing and gives Maggie advice on how to figure it all out.
Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties is an entertaining, thought provoking, and memorable story that captured me from the start. I can highly recommend it as a very enjoyable read!
Maggie's no-good husband, Adam tells her one day that he 'wants a different life.' What the heck? Maggie thought their marriage and their lives were doing just fine. He ups and leaves her and she tries to get on with her life, suddenly realizing that she has no identity—she has been part of a couple for so many years.
There are so many great characters in this book. There's Maggie, of course, as we watch her stumble though her 'new life', and Rose, Maggie's mother-in-law. I loved their relationship and how Maggie didn't give up on Rose, even though Rose's son gave up on Maggie. And then there's Jean, the carefree, adventurous women that Maggie meets on the plane on her way to Rome. Jean takes her under her wing and gives Maggie advice on how to figure it all out.
Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties is an entertaining, thought provoking, and memorable story that captured me from the start. I can highly recommend it as a very enjoyable read!
eatyacarbs's review against another edition
4.0
Camille Pagán somehow manages to write relatable stories (I think perhaps this is because she draws some much from her own life), with diverse characters, touching on important topics like racism, prejudice, addiction, without the read ever feeling too heavy; writing about marital problems without the story ever feeling stale.
A bonus? Camille is a kind and approachable author who is openly grateful for her readers - not necessarily unique, but appreciated all the same.
Can’t wait for more...
A bonus? Camille is a kind and approachable author who is openly grateful for her readers - not necessarily unique, but appreciated all the same.
Can’t wait for more...
bianca89279's review
3.0
I'll come out and say it - I requested this novel solely because the title grabbed my attention.
Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties was relatable. Despite that, I couldn't get into it at all.
The heroine, Maggie Harris finds herself in her early fifties divorced, as her dependable husband of nearly thirty years leaves her for a much younger woman. How cliche, right?
The kids are grown up.. Who's Maggie without her partner? Unsurprisingly, she's confused, depressed, and very lonely.
After moping and grieving her relationship, Maggie has to re-discover who she can be, what she wants and so on. She's in a pretty good financial position, so she doesn't have the struggles of other women in a similar position.
There's travelling to Italy, a new romance, ups and downs.
The writing is simple and utilitarian. While it's not fluffy, it's not particularly engaging either. It was actually pretty flat, so I had to force myself to get back to it.
When the story is so familiar, I need something special to keep my interest. I'm afraid this novel didn't quite deliver.
I've received this novel from Lake Union Publishing via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties was relatable. Despite that, I couldn't get into it at all.
The heroine, Maggie Harris finds herself in her early fifties divorced, as her dependable husband of nearly thirty years leaves her for a much younger woman. How cliche, right?
The kids are grown up.. Who's Maggie without her partner? Unsurprisingly, she's confused, depressed, and very lonely.
After moping and grieving her relationship, Maggie has to re-discover who she can be, what she wants and so on. She's in a pretty good financial position, so she doesn't have the struggles of other women in a similar position.
There's travelling to Italy, a new romance, ups and downs.
The writing is simple and utilitarian. While it's not fluffy, it's not particularly engaging either. It was actually pretty flat, so I had to force myself to get back to it.
When the story is so familiar, I need something special to keep my interest. I'm afraid this novel didn't quite deliver.
I've received this novel from Lake Union Publishing via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
shailydc's review against another edition
2.0
I read this because the title is so catchy and I loved [b:Forever is the Worst Long Time|31340919|Forever is the Worst Long Time|Camille Pagán|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1472749661s/31340919.jpg|52016156], but I couldn't get into it. It was actually a pretty realistic portrayal of what a person would go through if a spouse unexpectedly left, which unfortunately doesn't translate into a super interesting or captivating read.