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3.33 AVERAGE
3.33 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
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
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual harassment
slow-paced
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I read this book for the Lunch Hour Book Club at Literally a Bookshop in Gilbert, Arizona. I am not usually a straight fiction gal — I love romance, fantasy, mystery and magical realism, and I haven't read a ton of realistic fiction since I was in high school, so I was excited to dive back in with "You Only Call When You're In Trouble."
The book follows a daughter, a mother, and an uncle as the three try to balance their own lives and each other. Tom, the uncle, has been putting his niece Cecily first ever since he held her in his arms on the day she was born. But after decades of caring for Cecily's mother, Tom's sister Dorothy, and Cecily, Tom wonders if he'll ever be at a place in his life where he will only be responsible for himself.
As a person with a big family that is very interconnected and close, this book hit home for me. In the process of figuring out how and when to step back from caring for people in your life, particularly if you've held that caretaker role for a significant period of time, can be not only challenging, but gut wrenching. You can know you are making the right decision for yourself and still have a hard time making it because that decision could not be the most comfortable or easy decision for the person or people you love.
Tom faces this decision most directly with his sister, when Dorothy asks him to be the one to tell Cecily who her father is. But he also faces it with Cecily and even his friend Charlotte — they all ask a lot of him without a ton of thought to his own feelings. And some instances, that's necessary — for example, at the end of the book, when Cecily has to go to LA, and she isn't thinking of Tom or her mother or her newly found father or anyone else, just herself and her relationship with her boyfriend, Santosh. She does need to put her relationship with Santosh first because, as we see throughout the book, she hadn't been doing that before. But in other cases, the pattern of foisting responsibility upon Tom comes from a place of avoidance, like when Dorothy doesn't want to be the one to break the news to Cecily about her father.
The Title IX investigation plot line was interesting. I've never seen a plot line like that with a female professor and a nonbinary or androgynous student. The plot line wasn't explored super deeply outside of the scope of the investigation, but I do think it provided a lot of growth in Cecily's character overall, and also opened the door for side characters and plot lines to develop. Every plot line in the book was connected in some way, which I found very intriguing.
Oddly enough, I actually really enjoyed the one chapter in the point of view of Fiona, Dorothy's business partner who is the catalyst for a lot of drama tackled throughout the book. It was a chapter that tied a up a TON of loose ends into a bow, some that I hadn't even realized were loose in the first place!
The book follows a daughter, a mother, and an uncle as the three try to balance their own lives and each other. Tom, the uncle, has been putting his niece Cecily first ever since he held her in his arms on the day she was born. But after decades of caring for Cecily's mother, Tom's sister Dorothy, and Cecily, Tom wonders if he'll ever be at a place in his life where he will only be responsible for himself.
As a person with a big family that is very interconnected and close, this book hit home for me. In the process of figuring out how and when to step back from caring for people in your life, particularly if you've held that caretaker role for a significant period of time, can be not only challenging, but gut wrenching. You can know you are making the right decision for yourself and still have a hard time making it because that decision could not be the most comfortable or easy decision for the person or people you love.
The Title IX investigation plot line was interesting. I've never seen a plot line like that with a female professor and a nonbinary or androgynous student. The plot line wasn't explored super deeply outside of the scope of the investigation, but I do think it provided a lot of growth in Cecily's character overall, and also opened the door for side characters and plot lines to develop. Every plot line in the book was connected in some way, which I found very intriguing.
Oddly enough, I actually really enjoyed the one chapter in the point of view of Fiona, Dorothy's business partner who is the catalyst for a lot of drama tackled throughout the book. It was a chapter that tied a up a TON of loose ends into a bow, some that I hadn't even realized were loose in the first place!
It just got kind of boring. I needed it to get to the point. The characters were too flat and all too flawed to be likable.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes