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amandagstevens's review against another edition
Yes, I would normally give a book more time to hook me (I try to give 10% or 50 pages, depending on the length), but there's no reason to do so this time. I can't abide the profusion of italics and exclamation points and pointless run-on sentences. I can't abide the cutesy voice of Judd, the 30-year-old baby of the family, gushing descriptions of his family without giving me any clue as to his own personality (except that he's a gusher). And I can already tell Judd is going to mess with me, withhold things, bait me and then not tell me The Big Secret. For 450 pages? No. Can't do it.
Oh, and this:
Everything recorded here happened and it's my task to suggest how, and why; why what might seem to be implausible or inexplicable at a distance--a beloved child's banishment by a loving father, like something in a Grimm fairy tale--isn't implausible or inexplicable from within. I will include as many "facts" as I can assemble; and the rest is conjecture, imagined but not invented. Much is based upon memory and conversations with family members about things I had not experienced firsthand nor could possibly know except in the way of the heart.
So the author here is warning me that 1.) The story is implausible, but the narrator will try to make me believe I missed something if I conclude that the story is implausible; 2.) The narrator will be unreliable in other ways as well; 3.) The author fully intends to break point-of-view rules.
I'm okay with a well-done unreliable narrator, but one that's badly done (purely to manipulate the reader) is one of my literary pet peeves, so ... Overall, plenty of reasons for an enthusiastic pass on this one.
Oh, and this:
Everything recorded here happened and it's my task to suggest how, and why; why what might seem to be implausible or inexplicable at a distance--a beloved child's banishment by a loving father, like something in a Grimm fairy tale--isn't implausible or inexplicable from within. I will include as many "facts" as I can assemble; and the rest is conjecture, imagined but not invented. Much is based upon memory and conversations with family members about things I had not experienced firsthand nor could possibly know except in the way of the heart.
So the author here is warning me that 1.) The story is implausible, but the narrator will try to make me believe I missed something if I conclude that the story is implausible; 2.) The narrator will be unreliable in other ways as well; 3.) The author fully intends to break point-of-view rules.
I'm okay with a well-done unreliable narrator, but one that's badly done (purely to manipulate the reader) is one of my literary pet peeves, so ... Overall, plenty of reasons for an enthusiastic pass on this one.
reader295's review against another edition
3.0
The story is very good - so bittersweet. I didn’t enjoy the writing style, the movie was a better way to experience the writing style.
bugboi32's review against another edition
4.0
There’s a few spots where the writing about Native and Black people is grounded in racist stereotypes, that I suppose one could make the argument is due to the year that the book was written and also the years that the books is set. As a person of color I found those parts to be uncomfortable.
Besides that, this is a really good book. This is a story of a family’s downfall due to a tragedy that they are unwilling and unable to emotionally grapple with. Consider how patriarchy, white supremacy and capitalism dissuade society from being emotionally vulnerable and collectively grieving and healing together.
Oates’ writing is really captivating. She really does a fantastic job setting the scenes. I truly felt like I was able to envision this family’s home and vibe. It’s a page Turner for sure.
Besides that, this is a really good book. This is a story of a family’s downfall due to a tragedy that they are unwilling and unable to emotionally grapple with. Consider how patriarchy, white supremacy and capitalism dissuade society from being emotionally vulnerable and collectively grieving and healing together.
Oates’ writing is really captivating. She really does a fantastic job setting the scenes. I truly felt like I was able to envision this family’s home and vibe. It’s a page Turner for sure.
grandma_fix's review against another edition
1.0
Ummmmm....I quit. I didn't care about a single character in this book. I really thought it sounded like it had so much potential. Ouch...
klela's review against another edition
4.0
Ero molto curiosa di questo libro. Le storie sulle famiglia mi piacciono particolarmente e gli americani non mi dispiacciono affatto. Questa famiglia non mi ha deluso. Le premesse erano perfettamente poste e i personaggi ben posati sulla scena. Pronti al disastro. O perlomeno il lettore lo è. I personaggi non se lo aspettano assolutamente. Da lì va tutto a scatafascio. La famiglia si disgrega senza in realtà grandi scene drammatiche, ma lentamente, portandosi dietro però tutto le fondamenta della famiglia Mulvaney. La storia non finisce lì...dal momento dell’incontro tra i genitori (anche prima in realtà) la storia si dipana fino a seguire le gesta dei componenti della famiglia da grandi. Un grandioso affresco sulle forze e le fragilità che in realtà percorrono tutte le famiglie.
nymphna's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
crp51095's review against another edition
4.0
We Were the Mulvaneys starts out really strong and ends really strong but there’s a solid couple hundred pages where you’re just wanting to get through and then it’s ripping your heart out. It’s worth reading and in the end you feel that nostalgia of finding that peace with family. Buts it’s a rough go of almost yelling at the characters that they need to work their problems out but I guess that’s the point of being someone who gets to look at the family from the outside.
trisha_thomas's review against another edition
5.0
I actually read this book quite a while ago, but it has stuck with me. I really loved this book.
Maybe because I am a survivor. My father changed afterwards as well. I still think he has a tough time looking me in the eyes because he feels somehow he failed me (because he couldn't protect me).
I think this book is a painfully true account of how a family handles something so real and awful. You look at the pain and destruction square in the face with this book and when you're done, you know it's changed you.
And when something like an attack shakes the foundation of a family, you just never know how each person will take it. Each person handles it in their own way ~ whether right or wrong.
Maybe because I am a survivor. My father changed afterwards as well. I still think he has a tough time looking me in the eyes because he feels somehow he failed me (because he couldn't protect me).
I think this book is a painfully true account of how a family handles something so real and awful. You look at the pain and destruction square in the face with this book and when you're done, you know it's changed you.
And when something like an attack shakes the foundation of a family, you just never know how each person will take it. Each person handles it in their own way ~ whether right or wrong.
skrrtvonnegut's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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
4.0
I found this to be one of the more remarkable examples of building characters, describing their interior lives, and letting the reader live alongside them and their decisions, all in incredibly realistic and moving ways. Your heart breaks for (some of) these Mulvaneys, and those vivid renderings of their thoughts, as these events unfold, elicit even deeper empathy throughout. It's one of those works where, though I cannot personally imagine making some of the choices this family does, being guided through the story on their thoughts and subtle actions makes them seem all but destined to happen. "It's the way families are, sometimes. A thing goes wrong and no one knows how to fix it and years pass and--no one knows how to fix it."