Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

44 reviews

adventurebound7's review

reflective relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity and Alcoholism

Minor: Abortion, Cancer, and Injury/Injury detail

moond4ncer's review

hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Abortion, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Pandemic/Epidemic, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Mental illness

emilyrollande's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

3.5

A relaxing listen. Felt a little slow at times but just one of those stories that makes you feel like you’re listening to your own mother or grandmother talk about her past 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual content, Infidelity, and Cursing

pam_'s review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

Extremely boring. I didn’t care about any of the characters or the plot. I probably should have DNFed because this was not for me. Meryl Streep narrating the audiobook was this book’s saving grace in my opinion. Without her, there is no way that I would have been able to finish this.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Infidelity, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death, Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Misogyny

maggies's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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? No

5.0

Superbly performed by Meryl Streep, Lara and her daughters come alive in this masterclass of family dynamics, love, and hope. A story-within-a-story, as Lara tells her adult daughters in the present day about her time as an actress in her 20s, reminding us all of the lives we live that even those closest to our hearts won't know about unless we share. It's a sweeping generational family saga, a sweet summer romance, and all the points in between that make up a full and rewarding life.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content and Infidelity

Minor: Abortion, Grief, and Cancer

bella_cavicchi's review

emotional reflective relaxing 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? No

4.0

I’m not convinced that TOM LAKE is Ann Patchett’s best, or even her second or third best. It feels to me too quickly edited, the structuring of the memory scenes forced, the coincidences too good to be true. But man, did I still enjoy it. Perfectly imperfect, it is the epitome of summertime. I loved too how it captured the stillness that fell upon the world at the height of the pandemic without ever giving it a name.

+1 for showcasing summer stock theatre, what I lovingly call the “wild west” of the theatre industry. My heart! With it always.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Grief, Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Medical content

Moderate: Terminal illness, Pregnancy, and Cancer

Minor: Child death and Abortion

marioosa517's review

emotional hopeful 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Infidelity

Moderate: Animal death, Forced institutionalization, Pandemic/Epidemic, Toxic friendship, and Blood

Minor: Abortion, Suicide, Sexism, Racism, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Drug use, Self harm, Death, Death of parent, Cancer, Excrement, Violence, War, and Sexual content

cassiealexandra's review against another edition

4.25

I put this on my TBR long enough ago that I did not remember or realize it was set during the pandemic. This could be sensitive for some readers so I’m pointing it out from the start. I had a mixed reaction to this book overall. While I thought the writing was beautiful and it was expertly crafted, there were some parts I struggled with.

The story framing was very interesting to me. I liked that it took a look at Lara’s coming-of-age through the lens of her telling her grown daughters about it. I appreciated the look at nostalgia, suffering (worldwide), legacy, contentment, and the sweet and deep love between husband and wife and family. I was also surprised by the moments of humor in a somewhat serious read.

There were a couple of plot points that seemed to come out of nowhere for me; they seemed nearly unnecessary. The pacing also seemed to slow down at a couple points and I would have preferred it staying steady. I also got confused at a couple of points because of the way the story was framed and reading by audio. I think some of these confusing moments could have been cleared up had I read it in print. And speaking of the audio, I hate to say it, but I had a difficult time with Meryl Streep. I couldn’t keep myself from picturing her instead of picturing our character, Lara, and that was a slight distraction throughout.

Overall, I did enjoy this book and appreciated the writing style and themes, but I think I may have liked the experience more in print.

— NOTES —
Genres: literary fiction
POV: first-person, singular
Content: pandemic, infidelity, death of loved ones (a couple other things that are spoilers)
Romance: mostly vague implied intimacy and a couple minor sexual situations

— MY RATING CONSIDERATIONS —
(all out of 5)
Pace: 4
Enjoyment: 4
Craft: 5
My Gut Feeling: 4
Total Stars: 4.25 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Death, Infidelity, and Grief

Minor: Abortion and Suicide

thalia16's review

emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I'm a ride or die Ann Patchett fan, but this book just didn't have the magic for me. Judging books by their cover is often misleading in a pleasantly surprising way, however this one unfortunately aligned very closely with its cover: outdated (despite taking place during an incredibly contemporary world event) and not very exciting.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Abortion, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, and Pandemic/Epidemic

savvyrosereads's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Rating: 4/5 stars

Sheltering in place during the pandemic, Lara recounts for her daughters the story of her summer spent acting at Tom Lake.

Meryl Streep is one of the very best actors of our lifetimes (or ever) and she performs this audiobook with every ounce of that talent. I could truly listen to her monologue for hours on end, and so the narration made this audiobook an entertaining experience. If you’re a fan of Meryl, I can’t recommend it enough, and if you’re not, I have serious questions about your taste.

That said, this is also a book, and I…didn’t really enjoy the book. I found the plot pretty boring and never really “got” the point the novel was trying to make—it felt like nothing happened, I didn’t particularly like any of the characters, and I wasn’t remotely surprised by anything that happened in either timeline. Honestly, I cannot imagine reading this one in physical form, because the narration was the best part for me by far. In short, 3 stars for the book (being generous), an entire additional star for Meryl.

CW: Infidelity; injury; mentions of death; pandemic

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Animal death, Cancer, Infidelity, Death, and Injury/Injury detail