Reviews

The Mutual Admiration Society by Lesley Kagen

ktaroo939's review

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1.0

Couldn't actually finish

Ok, I only got about 60% through this book before I couldn't take it anymore. The stream of child conscious narration style is PAINFULLY slow moving. She will be like "wait a minute!" And then three pages later, three pages of annoying and useless exposition, you find out what her actual idea is. So slow moving and so so painful!

tishywishy's review against another edition

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1.0

Tedious and frustrating. The premise is good. Two sisters team up with their neighbour, Charlie, to make a detective/spy squad and they basically spend one entire day hunting down a missing nun and trying to find stolen money. The book is very detailed and whereas this might seem to be a good thing, most of it is just excessive over explanations and repetition of things already laid out. It draws what could have easily been a 100 page novella into 267 pages of boredom. I only completed this book because I dislike stopping half way and I already owned the book (I am super thankful that it was free from Kindle first). Also, there are tons of reference to the 'dark continent' aka Africa and the sorrows the people there endure, along with references to the "French slut" (I know there is a word missing but I'm not going back into that novel for an exact reference) and various other comments that just made me question what age group the author was writing for because the general story is kid oriented but the language and a lot of context wasn't. I would say teens but frankly, this book is for the birds.

judithdcollins's review

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3.0

Review to follow.

treparker73's review

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1.0

Gave up

Just couldn't get into it. I tried a few times, but just wasn't for me. The writing was ok, just didn't grab me.

susanp's review

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3.0

Was really looking forward to reading this book, since Whistling in the Dark by the same author was so good. This book was rambling, slow, and filled with slapstick humor that just didn't seem funny to me. Maybe I was missing something. The three stars are simply for the excellent grammar skills of the author.

katemoxie's review against another edition

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1.0

I LOVED Whispering in the Dark and Good Graces, but this book.... I couldn't finish. I wanted Birdie to shove her know-it-all older sister into a sewer drain somewhere and get on with life.

marceelf's review

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3.0

http://www.anurseandabook.com/2017/05/the-mutual-admiration-society-by-lesley.html

Tessie is a take charge girl in the middle of a typically dysfunctional 50's family in a Catholic neighborhood - too many nosy neighbors, a disinterested mother and a missing nun.

While Tessie is fairly certain she witnessed a kidnapping and/or murder, she also has to concentrate on the activities of daily living - she is carrying way too big of a burden since witnessing her father's death. She is solely responsible in caring for her younger sister, who is damaged in some way, although it's never really clear what her diagnosis is - back then they were just considered "touched" and either taken care of by their families, or sent away to homes - which is exactly what their evil neighbor Gert wants.

This was a super cute read taking you back to a different time, when neighborhoods existed and your neighbors were just part of your extended family - and childhood was a different kind of tough.

reneesmith's review

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4.0

The Finley sisters stole my heart in this coming-of-age story that made me laugh and cry. I loved the period details, the way Tessie cared for her fragile sister & her "fiancé," and the poignancy of the thoughts and conversastions. Grieving for their father & left to themselves by an absentee mother, the girls make their way through the world with little guidance. Tessie speaks & thinks the way the older kids & adults do in her tough neighborhood, so her dialogue is peppered with slang & curses. Yet in spite of the worldly influences, her heart is pure, like a Huck Finn set adrift at the mercy of the adults around her until someone takes her under a wing. Moving.

**Now in Kindle Unlimited

growlcat's review

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3.0

It was ok to begin with but became tedious. getting to the end was a chore.

erwink54's review

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3.0

Entertaining characters and I laughed out loud many times....but a little draggy.