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3.32 AVERAGE
3.32 AVERAGE
This book was all over the place. I needed a plot, not just random musings of a middle-aged woman going through a mid-life crisis. But that’s what this is. It’s not poorly written and there are moments I enjoyed, but I wish there had been a plot.
A great Christmas Eve book present. Sam is entirely unlike me and yet both relatable and believable. Her falling in love with a house is not something I “get,” but I very much enjoyed the story of her relationship with her daughter and mother. There are a few chapters near the end adding a new voice to the story—I didn’t find those chapters particularly or at all necessary to the story, but I suppose were foreshadowed and felt necessary to the author. Read this nonstop on a plane and almost didn’t notice how annoying some travelers can be, so it was a good book.
I love reading about a protagonist in her 50s, in the throes of peri menopause. The plotting isn’t strong, but the relationships feel real and complex.
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
About mothering, being a daughter, aging, menopause, bodies, women’s bodies, society…so, about being alive!
It started out seeming like it was going to be one kind of book (darkly comic?) and ended up in what was for me an unexpected place. But it was not a jarring shift. Overall, I liked it.
It started out seeming like it was going to be one kind of book (darkly comic?) and ended up in what was for me an unexpected place. But it was not a jarring shift. Overall, I liked it.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
I think the perspective of the 53 year old woman narrator might resonate more with middle age women than me. I appreciate the novel’s humor but got bored by the rants.
Just all over the place, but some genuine reflections on aging for women.
I devoured this book. I wasn't ever really sure where it was going (which, spoiler alert from the title, may be a feature and not a bug), but I definitely wanted to stay on the ride. It also made me sort of consider abandoning my life in the suburbs for a tiny little dilapidated house in the city, but I'm too lazy and too poor to actually do that.
This was trending toward a solid 4 stars for me until the last 30 pages. Did she needs extra pages and just through stuff in? The story got lost in weirdness. 100% loved reading about a perimenopausal woman and the ways current events and environment can mess with your mind and moods.