Same As It Ever Was by Claire Lombardo

3.99 AVERAGE

mere_'s review against another edition

5.0
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

gussnana's review

4.0
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.

zmccull's review against another edition

4.0
emotional funny reflective slow-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

chelsies39's review against another edition

4.0
emotional 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
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angelancoffin's review against another edition

5.0
emotional 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
I don’t know that I’ve ever read a book that didn’t have a necessarily sad ending that wrecked me as much as this one did. Oh my goodness to be a mom. There’s so much real complexity portrayed in this book. It’s definitely a hug-the-book-when-it’s-over book. 

I read The Most Fun We Ever Had and it stayed with me so much longer after I finished it. I know this one will too. I am stunned by this book and now officially a Claire Lombardo fan.

jbranham's review against another edition

5.0
emotional reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes

somaseb's review against another edition

3.5
reflective slow-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

berg0530's review against another edition

5.0
emotional funny inspiring 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

oliviaaleisa's review against another edition

2.0
I wanted to love this one as I enjoyed Lombardo’s first book, but this one fell very short. Unless you want to read a novel about an unhappy woman who thinks she’s settled in life for 490 of 492 pages, this book is not for you.

The pages dragged on with so much unnecessary detail and Julia was so unlikable. So much build up for the infamous Helen Russo too, and then she’s just a faint memory for like 350 pages of the book. Honestly, that entire storyline could have been eliminated and the book still would have been too long.

kimberxensen's review against another edition

3.75
emotional medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes