Reviews with content warning for Grief - All My Mother's Lovers

The cover of this book is absolutely beautiful and unfortunately influenced me to buy it. I wanted to love this story as I’m always looking for a book with queer characters that isn’t simply romance/relationship driven. This just wasn’t it, though.
Like many other reviewers have said, the most interesting parts of the story were from Iris’s POV. I really struggled through Maggie’s chapters. She was an insufferable character. It’s like a boomer or gen x’er developed a character based on every negative stereotype they’ve ever attributed to millennials. She was whiney, rude, ungrateful, childish, entitled. The interactions between her and her family were downright painful to read. I only finished it because I was invested in Iris’s story. I just wish I could have found it out without Maggie.
Also, the last line is atrocious. If there is a list somewhere of the worst book endings, this better be at the very top. I will never be able to wrap my mind around the fact that a queer woman –and not a man sitting in his moms basement– wrote those words to end a story.

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cheye13's review against another edition

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mysterious sad slow-paced

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

2.0

I initially projected a premise onto this book that it never actually promised. I thought it would be a journey through a mother's lovers prior to her husband/family, resulting in understanding the mother as a person and individual. That is nowhere near what this is about.

There is a bad-faith assumption the narration pushes the reader toward for the majority of the book.

As someone who believes sexuality is never/should never be a plot twist, I was disappointed with the 'gatcha' nature of the reveal.

It's especially frustrating when Maggie clings to this assumption despite all evidence to the contrary.

And it's unrealistic, I would argue; as a queer person, she should be more likely to second guess and criticize heteronormativity. Perhaps there's a blind spot when it comes to one's own parents, but there are points in the book that it feels obtuse.

There's also excerpts in Maggie's mother's POV, which felt underutilized and unimportant. They fall somewhere in between brief interludes and a second timeline, which makes them both too long and too short to be effective. Ultimately, the book rests on a crippling failure of Maggie and her mother to effectively communicate, even past her mother's death.

I would have enjoyed this more if Maggie grew more consistently over the course of her journey. As is, she goes on a sporadic road trip and grieves aggressively. A number of character development threads are left hanging, which could have lent the story more purpose. As is, there's a whole lot of nothing for a lackluster message.

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meemawreads's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I thought I was going to like this book more than I did, which is surprising considering I know road-trip fiction isn’t really my thing. A queer woman with a strained relationship with her distant mother finds herself responsible for delivering letters to that mother’s lovers after she dies in a car accident. (All of that is on the jacket, I’m spoiling nothing.) I expected to find it more compelling but the protagonist’s motivation didn’t make sense to me. I know this is a personal gripe other people might not have, but her reasoning behind choosing not to open the letters then deciding to hand-deliver them was flimsy to me. And the kinda-but-not-really surprise ending didn’t grab me. The storyline involving a trans character felt glossed over, the relationship between the protagonist and her girlfriend felt like an afterthought, and nothing felt especially true to life, possibly because I felt the author kept us at arms length from the protagonist even inside her own head. I dunno, I finished it, which as always, is saying SOMEthing. 2.5 taters 🥔🥔🍠/🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔

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jlboro's review

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challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

This was the best book I read in 2021 for me. I unexpectedly lost a parent in 2020 and this book helped me heal, forgive, and process when I needed it, without realizing I needed until I had finished and was able to reflect.
There were some pacing issues where I thought it took a little long to get to the first letter delivery and Maggie’s uncertainty surrounding her relationship with Lucia gets a little taxing in that it’s a repeat of the same feelings throughout most of the book. But those are not deal-breakers, especially for a debut author.
This is a tough book to tackle, it should not be approached lightly, and just remember that people are not at their best or most charming when dealing with grief. They are often at their worst, most raw, annoying, frustrating, and exasperating selves. And I think this book captures this completely and authentically.

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