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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
Emotionally gripping. I cried my eyes out in a good way.
The first half of the book was amazing. I liked the different characters - they were well filled out and had a lot to offer. The second half was much more disappointing - everything ended happily and it was much more simplistic.
Couldn't do it. This was written exactly like it was written by a man who thinks he knows how to write from a woman's perspective. Why not write a book from a male perspective instead?
It was just laughable and gross and I couldn't even finish it.
It was just laughable and gross and I couldn't even finish it.
A beautiful novel from the perspective of three different women who get diagnosed with breast cancer. The whole book felt so real and had me crying by the end. Topics: Friendship + Cancer
Full review here: http://everydayiwritethebookblog.com/2013/09/all-you-could-ask-for-by-mike-greenberg/
When All You Could Ask For by Mike Greenberg came out earlier this year, it got a lot of attention in part because its author, half of the hosting team from ESPN’s Mike and Mike, apparently wrote in a very authentic female voice. It sounded intriguing to me, so when I was offered a chance to review the paperback version of the book (which came out this month), I took it.
All You Could Ask For is about three women – Brooke, Samantha and Katherine – who are in different points in their lives and living unconnected lives in New York/Greenwich. Brooke is a SAHM to twins and very happily married to a rich investment banker guy. Katherine is a very successful businesswoman who has been working for years for the man who broke her heart in her early 20s. And we meet Samantha on her honeymoon, just as she discovers naked photos of another woman on her new husband’s computer. For the first half of the book, Katherine and Samantha are both at crossroads as they try to discover how to find happiness and fulfillment in their lives. Brooke, meanwhile, is in love with her life and doesn’t want anything to change.
When the second half of All You Could Ask For opens, the three women’s lives connect in an unexpected way: each of them is diagnosed with breast cancer. The women react to the diagnoses and approach their treatment in different ways, but they find each other through an online breast cancer forum and end up forming friendships that help each other through the life-changing experience of disease.
I have mixed feelings about All You Could Ask For. I respect Mike Greenberg for taking this book on. He was inspired to write it after a close friend of his and his wife’s died from breast cancer, and I admire that he is giving the proceeds from the book to a foundation in her memory. Ultimately, though, I didn’t find the book as authentic and true to the women’s voices as I’d hoped. My complaints: 1) the women, especially Brooke, were too perfect and ultimately too focused on men (and sex); 2) the pain and side effects of cancer treatments (especially mastectomy) were downplayed considerably; and 3) the end was a little too perfect for my taste. Despite the male author, this is squarely chick lit. It was enjoyable to read, and I am glad it dealt with an important topic, but it was breezy and relatively shallow. The women – all white and rich and blessed (other than the cancer) – were sort of interchangeable and there wasn’t much exploration of how this disease affects women all over the life spectrum.
So in the end, All You Could Ask For gets an “enh” from me. A quick read, and a relatively enjoyable one, but also a pretty flawed one.
When All You Could Ask For by Mike Greenberg came out earlier this year, it got a lot of attention in part because its author, half of the hosting team from ESPN’s Mike and Mike, apparently wrote in a very authentic female voice. It sounded intriguing to me, so when I was offered a chance to review the paperback version of the book (which came out this month), I took it.
All You Could Ask For is about three women – Brooke, Samantha and Katherine – who are in different points in their lives and living unconnected lives in New York/Greenwich. Brooke is a SAHM to twins and very happily married to a rich investment banker guy. Katherine is a very successful businesswoman who has been working for years for the man who broke her heart in her early 20s. And we meet Samantha on her honeymoon, just as she discovers naked photos of another woman on her new husband’s computer. For the first half of the book, Katherine and Samantha are both at crossroads as they try to discover how to find happiness and fulfillment in their lives. Brooke, meanwhile, is in love with her life and doesn’t want anything to change.
When the second half of All You Could Ask For opens, the three women’s lives connect in an unexpected way: each of them is diagnosed with breast cancer. The women react to the diagnoses and approach their treatment in different ways, but they find each other through an online breast cancer forum and end up forming friendships that help each other through the life-changing experience of disease.
I have mixed feelings about All You Could Ask For. I respect Mike Greenberg for taking this book on. He was inspired to write it after a close friend of his and his wife’s died from breast cancer, and I admire that he is giving the proceeds from the book to a foundation in her memory. Ultimately, though, I didn’t find the book as authentic and true to the women’s voices as I’d hoped. My complaints: 1) the women, especially Brooke, were too perfect and ultimately too focused on men (and sex); 2) the pain and side effects of cancer treatments (especially mastectomy) were downplayed considerably; and 3) the end was a little too perfect for my taste. Despite the male author, this is squarely chick lit. It was enjoyable to read, and I am glad it dealt with an important topic, but it was breezy and relatively shallow. The women – all white and rich and blessed (other than the cancer) – were sort of interchangeable and there wasn’t much exploration of how this disease affects women all over the life spectrum.
So in the end, All You Could Ask For gets an “enh” from me. A quick read, and a relatively enjoyable one, but also a pretty flawed one.
Hard to get into and stay with, but so glad I did. Takes you through the lives of three completely different women and what ultimately brings them together.
full review on my blog: http://mommareads84.blogspot.com/2014/12/all-you-could-ask-for-review.html
full review on my blog: http://mommareads84.blogspot.com/2014/12/all-you-could-ask-for-review.html
A story of three very different, very successful women who come together when they are each diagnosed with breast cancer.
Mike Greenberg, the first Mike from Mike and Mike on ESPN, is the author, and I was surprised by the subject matter. I expected the book to be about sports or sme other masculine topic. It was not like that at all.
Mike Greenberg, the first Mike from Mike and Mike on ESPN, is the author, and I was surprised by the subject matter. I expected the book to be about sports or sme other masculine topic. It was not like that at all.
This book goes to show sometimes it's worth taking a $5 risk on a hardcover you find in the Barnes & Noble clearance section. I had no idea who the author was or what the book was about (I didn't even read the cover flaps), but I picked it up anyway.
And I finished the book in hours...in tears.
Told from multiple female perspectives the book starts simply talking about the lives and relationships of some very different women. Part 2 of the book shows how all these women's lives come together because of their battles with breast cancer.
While it might be a little saccharine in spots, this really was a touching read that highlights just how important a community of women can be to a woman in crisis.
And I finished the book in hours...in tears.
Told from multiple female perspectives the book starts simply talking about the lives and relationships of some very different women. Part 2 of the book shows how all these women's lives come together because of their battles with breast cancer.
While it might be a little saccharine in spots, this really was a touching read that highlights just how important a community of women can be to a woman in crisis.
I read about a third of this fairly short book but I just couldn't get into it. The women felt awkward to me, too perfect and too cardboard-y, not like actual women facing real problems. I was curious to see what a (male) sports writer would have to say about the intimate inner workings of women's lives and now I know the answer. In this case at least, the answer was not good enough to make the book a worthwhile read.
Another resounding example of why you should not pre-judge people based on... well... ANYTHING. This is a sweet and heartfelt book about some unexpected twists in the lives of three women, written primarily from each of their perspectives. It was genuine and honest and interesting and often bittersweet, had lovely insight into the nature of relationships between friends... AND it was written by a man. A man whose primary career has been as a sportscaster, no less. I LOVE it when we can pitch stereotypes out the window. I really enjoyed this and look forward to more from Mike Greenberg.