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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
well written, just ultimately not for me. i felt intrigued for a good 25% of the book and then just felt let down by each part of conflict that was revealed. it became a slog that i wanted to get through because it was well written and thought out, but just not what i typically like
I like what this book was trying to do, but it didn’t land for me. I also don’t think I’m the intended audience, and this might hit differently for mothers and/or wives in middle age.
I liked the discussion of what life is like for women who check the “normal” life boxes (marriage, motherhood, etc) but find themselves dissatisfied. I think we need more space/community around this concept.
I also categorize this book in the unhinged woman genre, which I typically love. The characters just didn’t feel real to me. I wasn’t rooting for this woman or her boring husband.
I liked the discussion of what life is like for women who check the “normal” life boxes (marriage, motherhood, etc) but find themselves dissatisfied. I think we need more space/community around this concept.
I also categorize this book in the unhinged woman genre, which I typically love. The characters just didn’t feel real to me. I wasn’t rooting for this woman or her boring husband.
emotional
reflective
slow-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
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness
Moderate: Death, Grief
Really enjoyable, despite some lagging in the first third amid the protagonist’s lengthy period of marital / maternal self-loathing and misery. (It’s real! But maybe didn’t need to go on so long.) I appreciated plot developments that felt less like twists than inevitabilities by the time they occurred, due to skillful character development.
Mixed feelings on this one. Thought it was kind of slow and didn’t like the main character. It was a lot of pages that didn’t really come together for me. Many central characters intertwined but nothing fully connected. I liked the way it closed out but that was about it.
dark
emotional
reflective
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
Wow, this was so good. It was beautifully and thoroughly written; the sentences and the story both had a delightful richness to them. I love how this book explored love and family and marriage and motherhood and the deep bruises these can imprint on you. The format of back-and-forth between past and present really aided the book's development: having the past unfold alongside the present helped build a more nuanced understanding of Julia and her actions (though, I would've liked some information to be shared a little earlier in the book). The book isn't fast-paced, but I found myself pulled into it over and over again just by how tangible the characters felt to me. Julia is an incredibly complicated character, you feel for her and resent her and pity her and celebrate her. I don't think I've ever had a character teach me so much about empathy and the difficulties of trying to love others without your own experience of love to lean on.
It's not an easy read - the themes can be heavy and emotionally complex. But it also felt like it just worked, maintaining the right balance of heavy and beautiful and plain old real. It made me think, but it also swept me off my feet and pulled me into the current of the story. I can't wait to read Lombardo's other works.
It's not an easy read - the themes can be heavy and emotionally complex. But it also felt like it just worked, maintaining the right balance of heavy and beautiful and plain old real. It made me think, but it also swept me off my feet and pulled me into the current of the story. I can't wait to read Lombardo's other works.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Infidelity
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
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
Up close and personal family drama, whose main character is a middle aged woman reliving her past throughout the book. If the story had unfolded at a little faster pace I would have given it five stars. I was a little bored with some repetitive parts of the story, but overall it’s a great character study of a woman navigating her way through life.