Reviews

I can see why this got made into a TV series. It's got that great intertwined-families, secrets-to-be-revealed thing happening. It reminded me in some ways of a Liane Moriarty type book, except those books often feel intentionally blind to race and class issues, and this one engaged with them. The 90s setting was fun, and the (real, actual!) town was fascinating.

ealcala's review

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dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

jesshere's review

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4.0

I definitely liked aspects of the book more than the series:

-Trip not being rude to Pearl in their first sexual encounter together

-Lexie not stealing Pearl’s essay, but also, this makes it seem like Pearl really worships Lexie, which is an interesting dynamic.

-Mia telling Pearl about her birth father and not Elena.

Overall it was a decent book, and I liked the story. I think the audiobook version was entertaining.

melissabraine's review

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3.0

3.5*
It took me a while to get into this book, especially as the start was so slow and I couldn’t really see where it was going. However, halfway through it was beginning to take shape and became a little more predictable which grabbed my attention a little bit more.

I really liked the emphasised aspect of nurture vs. nature and how individual experiences as a mother and/or child created different forms of empathy and sympathy.

It was also really interesting to see the parallels between the experiences of Bebe and Mia and how that shaped Mia’s own sympathy for the custody case.

I think the discussion around family wealth was also really important, showing how more financially privileged families do not understand the struggles that lone mothers on lower wages face, especially those from a different ethnic background. However, when the Richardsons move into the Warren’s house, it becomes clear that, from this experience, Elena Richardson becomes much more open minded of individual experiences and how that shapes their family and different forms of love.