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3.32 AVERAGE
3.32 AVERAGE
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If only the entire book was as good as the last 75 or so pages. It was a struggle to get through the majority of this book. The shining star of this book is Ally, not Sam.
I’ve lived through menopause. I don’t need to read about it at this point.
Was really looking forward to the empowerment of Sam as she worked on this beautiful home but at least 100 pages in all she done was mop.
I want this woman to go to the hardware store and and start renovating
Was really looking forward to the empowerment of Sam as she worked on this beautiful home but at least 100 pages in all she done was mop.
I want this woman to go to the hardware store and and start renovating
I was attracted to the book by its Syracuse setting (I grew up in the area) and the concept of the “mids”—middle of the night wakefulness during peri menopause which I remember all too well.
The book hits on every detail you’d want to know about Syracuse and a lot I didn’t particularly want to know. It also covered just about every stereotype of peri menopause.
Sam, the main character, overthinks almost every aspect of her life, except for buying a dilapidated house on a whim and walking out on her husband and daughter.
The husband and Sam’s mother are pretty much the only characters in the book that I liked. Sam and her daughter, Allie, are both self-centered over thinkers who make some pretty questionable choices. It was hard to care what happened to them.
The author was also determined to hit every hot political issue without really advancing the plot.
I stuck it out, but my next read may be an old favorite so I can be sure to enjoy it.
The book hits on every detail you’d want to know about Syracuse and a lot I didn’t particularly want to know. It also covered just about every stereotype of peri menopause.
Sam, the main character, overthinks almost every aspect of her life, except for buying a dilapidated house on a whim and walking out on her husband and daughter.
The husband and Sam’s mother are pretty much the only characters in the book that I liked. Sam and her daughter, Allie, are both self-centered over thinkers who make some pretty questionable choices. It was hard to care what happened to them.
The author was also determined to hit every hot political issue without really advancing the plot.
I stuck it out, but my next read may be an old favorite so I can be sure to enjoy it.
If you sometimes feel that you don’t know what to do with all the rage within yourself and feel panic about what that rage is doing to you, turning you into, then this is the book for you. It took me back to 2016 and perfectly captured that post-election rage felt by middle class educated Gen-X white women (the ones who didn’t vote for Trump). As good as Wayward is, Spiotta may have tried to cover a little too much ground here. I struggled with Sam’s witnessing of a police shooting in particular, but where this book shines brightest is its excavation of mother–daughter relationships and all that rage. Write from a place of rage and I am yours, especially if you can control it and my god can Spiotta channel and use rage! Dana Spiotta is a favourite of mine and she has a remarkable ability to write our flawed humanity book after book.
3.5 stars. Realistic view of the ties that bind mothers and daughters and an examination of (privileged) midlife.
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I didn't like this book at first, but at the half way point I really started to love it and then started looking forward to reading it every night. I think also even as I was finding Sam annoying, the writing was great and really addicting.
At the beginning, I found Sam to be really frustrating and her white liberalism (pseudo-leftism) I found really infuriating and her really trying to do what is right in a way that was like she was trying too hard/or she was too far removed to actually know? It was really giving gen-x, well-meaning white liberal and reminded me of myself when I was in college and I was more naive and really trying to gain acceptance in leftist spaces. Me cringing at her was giving "all hate is self hate"; though I'd hope not me presently, but me when I was a bit younger. However, as I read on, it became more apparent that her leftism was more legitimate when she was younger and that felt more authentic and less annoying to watch her stray from values she held really tightly idk as she aged and got richer. Additionally, the lack of space for nuance was really giving 2016/2020 to me, or at least the way I thought about things at that time, which was frustrating but believable.
I wonder if at a later time in life I'll have a different opinion on this as I don't know, I guess my opinions on things have become less harsh.
However, the politics isn't why I loved the book. I loved the relationships of the three generations of women (mostly Sam and Lily) and how special the relationships between moms and daughters are. At certain points it really made me just think about how much I love my mom and also how much I need her, and I was left just feeling really grateful to have such a special relationship.
I didn't really care about Clara and though that bit was weird.
At the beginning, I found Sam to be really frustrating and her white liberalism (pseudo-leftism) I found really infuriating and her really trying to do what is right in a way that was like she was trying too hard/or she was too far removed to actually know? It was really giving gen-x, well-meaning white liberal and reminded me of myself when I was in college and I was more naive and really trying to gain acceptance in leftist spaces. Me cringing at her was giving "all hate is self hate"; though I'd hope not me presently, but me when I was a bit younger. However, as I read on, it became more apparent that her leftism was more legitimate when she was younger and that felt more authentic and less annoying to watch her stray from values she held really tightly idk as she aged and got richer. Additionally, the lack of space for nuance was really giving 2016/2020 to me, or at least the way I thought about things at that time, which was frustrating but believable.
I wonder if at a later time in life I'll have a different opinion on this as I don't know, I guess my opinions on things have become less harsh.
However, the politics isn't why I loved the book. I loved the relationships of the three generations of women (mostly Sam and Lily) and how special the relationships between moms and daughters are. At certain points it really made me just think about how much I love my mom and also how much I need her, and I was left just feeling really grateful to have such a special relationship.
Maybe I am the wrong audience for this book. I felt that the author was trying to cover a few big themes and used the characters as a way to string unrelated themes together, and it still didn't quite flow. I was very confused at certain story lines that didn't lend to the story.