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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
I liked the author's writing style and was impressed by her ability to say so much with just a few sentences. In that regard, her writing reminded me of Judy Blume, but that's where the comparison starts and ends.
Whereas Blume can create characters that you care about all the more for their flaws, I didn't care about any of the characters in this book because I felt that they wallowed in their flaws. Though this book spans an approximate period of 15 years or more, none of the characters grew out of their adolescent pains and struggles. I understand how tragedy and hurts caused by others can stay with you even as you grow up, but these characters made bad decision after bad decision and kept blaming them on things from their pasts. Growing up and transitioning to adulthood is hard, but this book made it seem like the worst possible thing you could do with your life!
This was overall an unsatisfying read. Not a bad one, just not fulfilling. I wouldn't recommend it.
Whereas Blume can create characters that you care about all the more for their flaws, I didn't care about any of the characters in this book because I felt that they wallowed in their flaws. Though this book spans an approximate period of 15 years or more, none of the characters grew out of their adolescent pains and struggles. I understand how tragedy and hurts caused by others can stay with you even as you grow up, but these characters made bad decision after bad decision and kept blaming them on things from their pasts. Growing up and transitioning to adulthood is hard, but this book made it seem like the worst possible thing you could do with your life!
This was overall an unsatisfying read. Not a bad one, just not fulfilling. I wouldn't recommend it.
This started out clunky, and repetitive, and slow. It didn't get any better.
The way the characters lives intermix feels like a bad version of six degrees of separation. This book was trying way too hard. There wasn't enough real drama to keep me invested in the story or the characters. I wasn't rooting for anyone, or all that curious to find out what would happen to them. The only reason I kept reading it was to see if it redeemed itself.
It didn't.
This feels like a random mashup of characters, whose connection/interweaving is supposed to be some comic book that's turned into a TV show, and the people that surround all of that. Also there are odd interjections of what I'd call modern history events, like the Bush V. Gore presidential election, a recounting of September 11, 2001, and the emergency landing on the Hudson river.
These events are thrown in for some odd reason but have no actual meaningful bearing on the story, except for one reference to the Bush V Gore election near the end of the book, but even that is weak as a connector at best.
I can't understand how Adam seems like a nice kid, but then almost drowns his friend as a teenager. He also grows up and becomes a complete dick, but he has these nice moments. I can't tell if he's a narcissist, or just unbalanced.
Honestly, I don't even know what the real point of this story was. Maybe something about choices, some odd Sliding Doors, "consider what would have happened if..." situation?
Whatever it was meant to be, it just doesnt' work.
Probably the most off putting thing? The cover of this book. It makes no sense with the story, and just doesn't go at all.
Definitely do not recommend this.
The way the characters lives intermix feels like a bad version of six degrees of separation. This book was trying way too hard. There wasn't enough real drama to keep me invested in the story or the characters. I wasn't rooting for anyone, or all that curious to find out what would happen to them. The only reason I kept reading it was to see if it redeemed itself.
It didn't.
This feels like a random mashup of characters, whose connection/interweaving is supposed to be some comic book that's turned into a TV show, and the people that surround all of that. Also there are odd interjections of what I'd call modern history events, like the Bush V. Gore presidential election, a recounting of September 11, 2001, and the emergency landing on the Hudson river.
These events are thrown in for some odd reason but have no actual meaningful bearing on the story, except for one reference to the Bush V Gore election near the end of the book, but even that is weak as a connector at best.
I can't understand how Adam seems like a nice kid, but then almost drowns his friend as a teenager. He also grows up and becomes a complete dick, but he has these nice moments. I can't tell if he's a narcissist, or just unbalanced.
Honestly, I don't even know what the real point of this story was. Maybe something about choices, some odd Sliding Doors, "consider what would have happened if..." situation?
Whatever it was meant to be, it just doesnt' work.
Probably the most off putting thing? The cover of this book. It makes no sense with the story, and just doesn't go at all.
Definitely do not recommend this.
I kind of hated every character in this novel, but I'm a sucker for inter-related plot lines. A fun read. Solid 3.5 stars and much fun for a vacation.
Maybe more like 3.5 stars. I would have rated it higher but for one thing: While I find it conceivable that this select group of people would orbit around each other for years on end, I find it less conceivable that the ex-boyfriend of one woman would end up getting involved with the ex-girlfriend of said woman's dead brother. While not totally out of the realm of possibility, in this case it rang false.
This book started off so much stronger than it ended. It still had me interested enough to finish it quick, but... It could have been better. Can't say much without spoiling the story. Just really wish it had continued with that initial momentum.
I really loved this book and couldn't put it down in the four days it took me to read it. I'm not a fast reader, and it's not common for me to get through a book so quickly. The characters are complex: likable and thoroughly unlikeable at different moments, but mostly relatable. I enjoyed the way the comic book/movie/TV series Eons & Empires was woven throughout as the connection between the characters, and also how the themes were carried through into the plot. There are so many "in some other world, maybe" moments that I could totally relate to. Such a great concept.
I have a few (mostly minor) criticisms. One (the biggest) was the author's use of the second person POV for Olliver's story. Just, no. I'm not sure if maybe she thought it would help us keep the stories straight or what, but it just didn't work for me and was annoying. That bugged me because I liked Olliver so much. Next, and this is minor, but unless I'm missing something, Sharon doesn't recognize Phoebe in the pictures she's seen of Phoebe and Adam. That was completely impossible for me to believe that she'd forget what Chase's sister looked like. It was also sketchy that some of these characters WOULD have remembered one another from such brief and uneventful encounters, but whatever. Finally, the end scene with Adam having dinner with Phoebe's family felt waaaaaaay contrived and too "they all lived happily ever after"-ish to me. I'm not saying I agree with When Harry Met Sally in that men and women can't be friends, but Phoebe and Adam can't be once she marries Cole. Not in my book, anyway. I thought that scene was just begging for this book to be made into a movie: a bright sunny backyard BBQ with happy music playing and everyone smiling...gag. I do think this would make a good movie, but I don't like when I feel like the author is writing to that end.
Oh, and the cover art is so beautiful. One of the best covers I've seen in some time.
I have a few (mostly minor) criticisms. One (the biggest) was the author's use of the second person POV for Olliver's story. Just, no. I'm not sure if maybe she thought it would help us keep the stories straight or what, but it just didn't work for me and was annoying. That bugged me because I liked Olliver so much. Next, and this is minor, but unless I'm missing something, Sharon doesn't recognize Phoebe in the pictures she's seen of Phoebe and Adam. That was completely impossible for me to believe that she'd forget what Chase's sister looked like. It was also sketchy that some of these characters WOULD have remembered one another from such brief and uneventful encounters, but whatever. Finally, the end scene with Adam having dinner with Phoebe's family felt waaaaaaay contrived and too "they all lived happily ever after"-ish to me. I'm not saying I agree with When Harry Met Sally in that men and women can't be friends, but Phoebe and Adam can't be once she marries Cole. Not in my book, anyway. I thought that scene was just begging for this book to be made into a movie: a bright sunny backyard BBQ with happy music playing and everyone smiling...gag. I do think this would make a good movie, but I don't like when I feel like the author is writing to that end.
Oh, and the cover art is so beautiful. One of the best covers I've seen in some time.
too many characters for me to know or care about any of them. all made of paper.
Interconnected plot lines & characters make for an engaging read. Lives and stories intersect, sometimes in frustrating and sometimes in enlightening and beautiful ways. The theory of six degrees of separation echoes throughout.
An interesting story of the intersecting lives of different people. While absolutely not what I thought it was going to be, it was still good nonetheless.
Very good for a novel about fandom, sorta. And also about the 'what if' thing. I loved it.