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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
Storyline gets 4 stars (I love Patchett’s use of language and character development) and Meryl Streep reading the audiobook, which totally enhanced the story pushes this book to a 5 star “read” for me.
This story was a beautiful picture of a mother telling her girls the story of her young life. It’s beautiful
emotional
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
In so many ways this read like upper-middle class white-lady self-insert fanfiction, which just goes to show that Meryl Streep elevates whatever she touches. Despite finding Lara, quite frankly, the most boring character in this book, I didn't mind spending hours listening to her story. Was anything in this book the least bit surprising? Nope. Did the Our Town obsessiveness fall a bit flat? Sure did. But Patchett's prose was solid if not particularly innovative, and the theater nerd in me enjoyed a summer escape setting that wasn't the beach.
This also will scratch the itch for those of us <i>aching</i> for a Streep memoir since we'll probably never get one. But at least now we can experience what it might sound like if she narrated it.
This also will scratch the itch for those of us <i>aching</i> for a Streep memoir since we'll probably never get one. But at least now we can experience what it might sound like if she narrated it.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was not for me. I was bored and really did not care for the main characters. I did enjoy hearing about the cherry farm in MI. I am going to read the other reviews because I am really curious what everyone loved so much.
I normally love listening to books read by famous actors, but this one didn't work as well for me. In this novel, Lara is telling the story of her early romance to her three grown daughters as they work on the family cherry farm during Covid lockdown. Lara was an actress involved with a man who would go one to become extremely famous. The problem with this is that Meryl Streep read the book, and since it was about an actress, it was absolutely impossible for me to get the picture of Streep out of my head, making it difficult for me to form my own thoughts on the character of Lara.
The story is interesting, though Lara continually goes on about how happy she is and how lovely her life is (and she means it), which was a little grating. I wasn't sure about how the telling of a story within the novel would work, but it's quite successful and the story of the past and the story of the present are woven together beautifully. Ultimately, I loved the ending of this book so much that any other sins were immediately canceled. Definitely a book to read, but perhaps not listen to.
The story is interesting, though Lara continually goes on about how happy she is and how lovely her life is (and she means it), which was a little grating. I wasn't sure about how the telling of a story within the novel would work, but it's quite successful and the story of the past and the story of the present are woven together beautifully. Ultimately, I loved the ending of this book so much that any other sins were immediately canceled. Definitely a book to read, but perhaps not listen to.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-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