Reviews

He Gets That From Me by Jacqueline Friedland

kristensreadingnook's review

5.0

Maggie Fisher has a toddler son when she sees an ad seeking a surrogate. She wants to go back to school but needs the money.

Chip and Donovan would like a family of their own and are thrilled when Maggie agrees to be their surrogate.

Now, 10 years after their sons are born, the paternity of one of the boys is being questioned, and Maggie and her husband Nick are thrust back into their lives.

I loved this book. From the AZ setting (my home state), to the surrogacy (my best friend has been a surrogate), to the ethical questions being asked, I could not get enough!

Thank you to Book Sparks and Spark Press for the gifted copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

cake_cats_books's review

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

librarygirlreads's review

adventurous challenging emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

bs_little_library's review

challenging hopeful 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

3.0

bex_j's review

emotional inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

usernamegenerator's review

medium-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.0

I really wanted to like this book. It was an interesting premise! But the execution fell too short of the mark.

The characters were predictable, and the way the straight (I assume - she has a husband) white female author writes the queer male characters is just...they feel like tropes. I had hoped the book never would lean in to the ethical ambiguity the plot presents, but overall it just lacks nuance.

and somehow

even though there's a big thing about the best interests of the child, no one thinks to maybe involve a therapist in this? Even though the dad says he's had plenty of therapy??? What????

I thought from the title there would at least  be some really interesting nature vs nurture points explored but...not really. 

readingelli's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infertility and Mental illness

Minor: Homophobia

Surrogacy, issues around surrogacy, complicated family dynamics, bipolar disorder

angie1306's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I enjoyed this but feel let down that it didn't explore the dilemmas in more detail. I felt I was spoon-fed character notes at the beginning and chapter 21 was a waste of time. It was chapter 20 told from Maggie Point of view, but such a lot was word for word the same, felt very lazy writing.
Enjoyable but a bit shallow.

martha_imani's review

emotional 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

4.0

tico1021's review

4.0

I really liked it, but felt there was a bit too much going on at times.