Reviews

The Museum of Ordinary People by Mike Gayle

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sydneygoombs's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

cjarrett28's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

amandasev's review

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emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

The museums subject was what got me to pick this up, and ultimately it ended up being the the primary, if not only, reason I stayed. As someone who works in a museum and went to school for museum studies, it was of course interesting to read a book about someone with a similar educational background and career goals. But would I read a Mike Gayle book that doesn’t relate to that background? Probably not.
The writing style leaves much to be desired and the characters are one dimensional. It’s all tell, no show. Instead of describing people’s facial expressions, mannerisms, etc. Gayle uses dialogue to explain what’s happening, and uses Jess’ internal monologue as another means of telling. This felt very juvenile at times, like a habit that would normally get edited out before being published.
So much of the plot is obvious, to the degree that some of the road bumps and conflicts felt useless as I could already understand how things would work out! Characters like Guy are given absolutely no redeemable qualities - it’s made glaringly obvious that he isn’t the right love interest for Jess, so much so that the reader must wonder why they’re even together in the first place. Alex is treated with the opposite - basically no flaws, made glaringly obvious that Jess is going to end up with him instead. Things don’t always have to be suspenseful, so I’m not saying there isn’t merit to a predictable plot line, but why wax poetic about Jess feeling so sad during the breakup, go through all the motions when you know how it’s going to end up from the beginning? I guess there’s some realism to a person staying with her douchey partner and it just dragging out, but it wasn’t fun to read about and I (unlike Jess) was very ready to move on from the Guy plot.
I did appreciate the plot twists toward the end, but also felt that the plotline with Dougie being Jess’ biological father was out of nowhere, even though it was clear Gayle tried to drop hints about Jess’ father throughout the beginning of the book.It’s not that those hints didn’t land, it’s just that the Jess-doesn’t-know-who-her-father-is thing was buried between so many other subplots that I didn’t care to pay attention to it. I wouldn’t have foreseen it being Dougie, so kudos to Gayle for at least making some parts of the book not predictable, but I’m not sure if unpredictability as a plot device warranted such an intense and character-altering shift.
This was a quick read and I liked the way Mike Gayle talked about museums and their purpose - but that’s where my interest primarily lied, not as much with the rest of Jess’ story.

hillary_charlotte's review

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4.0

Another one of the heart warming, endearing reads that was a delight! I definitely recommend.

tld_21's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

4.5

chelseyb's review

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5.0

Really great read. A touching and loving story about a woman who helps bring together a museum filled with everyday things, all with stories from the people who owned them. Really well developed characters and back stories.