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cailinfitzgerald's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Grief, Death, and Terminal illness
Minor: Abandonment
lilygr's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Medical trauma
ems_rxlibrary's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness and Death
Moderate: Child death and Dementia
msennflinn's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
"We are in the back of hundreds of people's photographs - moving, talking, blurring into the background of a picture two strangers have framed on their living room mantelpiece. And in that way, we live on too. But it isn't enough. It isn't enough to have been a particle in the great extant of existence. I want, we want, more. We want for people to know us, to know our story, to know who we are and who we will be. And after we're gone, to know who we were."
I can't believe this is Marianne Cronin's debut novel. The stories of Lenni and Margot are going to be forever emblazoned in my mind - they're filled with wit, hope, love, and heartbreak. I hope you pick up this book that - in my opinion - hasn't been talked about enough. Easily sitting pretty at the top of my favorites I've read this year. I can't wait until this author pens another beautiful story.
I can't believe this is Marianne Cronin's debut novel. The stories of Lenni and Margot are going to be forever emblazoned in my mind - they're filled with wit, hope, love, and heartbreak. I hope you pick up this book that - in my opinion - hasn't been talked about enough. Easily sitting pretty at the top of my favorites I've read this year. I can't wait until this author pens another beautiful story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child death, Medical content, and Grief
aimeebenitez4's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Child death, and Cancer
buffy87's review against another edition
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
- forced story, didn't feel organic
- bored until halfway until Margot's story started to take shape
- Lenni's story is quite underfilled
- pushing the connections between all the characters (like what was the purpose of the Temp & the man in the ER)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Medical trauma, Death, Grief, Medical content, Child death, and Chronic illness
macaronsandmermaids's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Child death, Terminal illness, Dementia, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Pregnancy, Infidelity, and Alcohol
brewdy_reader's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Terminal illness
seamoonstone's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
medium-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
3.0
This book was a miss for me. Specifically, I missed the part where we were supposed to fall in love with the friendship between Lenni and Margot. We never see it happen. I’m left with no idea why Lenni and Margot are emotionally invested in each other. What does Lenni, a dying child, say when Margot reveals that her child died? Why can’t we delve into that at all? How does Margot respond to Lenni’s mother’s mental health problems (which are suggested and then promptly never mentioned again)? What does either woman think about anything the other has told her? We never see the sparks, the admiration, the moments of understanding between two people that was promised in a book about “an extraordinary friendship.” We do see other relationships form and dissolve, and the book is testing out some interesting ideas about the difference between “abandonment” and “letting someone go,” especially when things get tough or someone gets sick. The real joy in this book is the friendship between Lenni and Father Arthur. In this relationship, we see patience and care and forgiveness and vulnerability. For some reason, Lenni and Margot are not given that same space. Overall, I think the book is trying to show how we all have an impact on those around us, whether it be great or small, no matter how much time we have, but I wish the time we spent with our characters was more focussed.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Child death
sallenreads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content
Moderate: Child death, Terminal illness, Cursing, Death, Dementia, Grief, and Mental illness
Minor: Death of parent and Alcohol