Reviews with content warning for Infidelity - This Close to Okay

Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

This Close to Okay by Leesa Cross-Smith

46 reviews

jackelz's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Fate is something I whole heartedly believe in, and that is definitely what brought these characters together.

This was a story I didn’t want to end. It was such a powerful, vibrant novel about the life-changing weekend shared between two strangers. It was uplifting yet heartbreaking; there was hope found in the most unlikely places; and you really see the magic of human connection.

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amazinggrace1455's review

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emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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remie's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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ekopaskie's review

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dark emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
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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just_one_more_paige's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

This is my second read from Cross-Smith. A few years ago I read, and unexpectedly really loved, Whiskey & Ribbons. It was an end of the year book for me then too and was a last minute addition to my "favorites of the year" 2018 list. Since then, I've meant to read the short story collection she's published, but I am not always in the mood for short stories, so I haven't gotten to it yet. However, when I saw that she had another novel coming out, this one, I was psyched and knew I'd be reading it sooner rather than later.

Driving home from work one evening, Tallie (a therapist), sees and stops Emmett from taking an action that would end his life. Over the course of the weekend that follows, Tallie and Emmett spend days together, sharing lots of "big talk" and inevitably becoming deeply tangled in each other's lives, yet purposefully holding each other at arm's length because they are, essentially, strangers. Emmett meets Tallie's family and leaves a lasting mark on them, while simultaneously enacting a ruse that will break her budding trust in him. Tallie does everything she can to help Emmett see that his life has meaning, if worth living, while hiding an essential fact about herself that will threaten his belief in her motives. And in back-and-forth-in-time perspectives, the reader is also given the unfolding events that led to Emmett's decision to end his life and the difficult realities Tallie has yet to fully reckon with in her own life.

Although this novel was so different, in so many ways, from Whiskey & Ribbons, there was a style and feeling to the writing that rang very similar. It seems that the sort of soft, gentle cadence to the words and the way the story unfolds, is a central characteristic of Cross-Smith's writing. Interestingly, although the art forms were differently used and experienced, the place that art itself holds in the lives of the characters and the emotional connections shared/created is another similarity between the two. Something about the way it's woven in just adds to the smooth, comforting flow of the writing; it sort of all just washes over you as a reader, bringing you along for an immersive ride. And despite the intensity of many of the events that occur within these pages, it was still a deeply soothing reading experience. A really impressive accomplishment and, as it's the second time, really proves that it's no fluke, that Cross-Smith is just that good.

There is one other literary detail worth mentioning, an internal stylistic device. Emmett's observations, or cataloging, of the details around him, as well as Tallie's mental therapy notes, are a really nice touch that gives something extra to the characters and, while it could easily be overdone, never felt that way for me. They both give an almost haunting quality to Emmett and Tallie's inner personhood throughout their time together and it adds something simple, but necessary, to their development.

Regarding the actual story, it was, as I said, quite intense. Really shouldn't be a surprise, considering the way Emmett and Tallie meet, but it ends up being so much more than that. Despite the lies (or truth-guarding, if you will) that they tell each other, the intentional miscommunications and misdirections and invasions of privacy (that aspect in itself was such a human part of the story, I couldn't get over the absolute real feeling of it), there is something impossibly tender in the way Emmett and Tallie are with each other. It is deeply affecting and had me emotionally invested in them together almost immediately. And while there is definitely a romantic tension to their character development in and around each other, that's too surface-level to appropriately describe it. So when there was follow through there, but then also not, that weird mix of completeness and dissatisfaction was exactly what I wanted from it.

Other than that, looking at the "side character" details, the integration of Tallie's extended family and ex-husband, as well as her yearning for a child, juxtaposed with Emmett's mysteriously absent family and, of course, the mystery of the "why" behind his suicide attempt, into this emotion-laden long weekend, were equally striking as facets of the Emmet and Tallie's story. (A note here, the suicide attempt, planning, ideation, bargaining/planning, is central to the novel and has a quiet intensity to it that hits all the harder because of it, deserving full-throated content warnings.)

It's the small things, the artistic touches, that make Cross-Smith's writing so good. I was just so softly blown away by this novel. The tender writing and story of Emmett and Tallie, ships passing in the night while leaving indelible marks on each other's lives/futures, was so emotionally raw and epicly poignant.

“Losing her nervousness made her feel reckless, and feeling reckless fed her recklessness, leading her to feel the scariest, most thrilling thing of all: free.”

“He could pretend to be someone else who was pretending to be someone else. The cracked husk of his heart inside another and another, ad infinitum. Evidence of how he’d closed himself off out of necessity. Grief. Guilt. And fear.”

Content Warnings

auroralgr's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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kaylasoos's review against another edition

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inspiring fast-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

5.0

Loved this book. Emotionally intense, but hopeful and moving.

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evelync's review against another edition

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4.75

This book broke me in every possible way. It is such a heavy book but it felt therapeutic at the same time. My heart broke so many times for our characters and I just wanted to console them. While they both did questionable things that they felt were justified it was hard to actually be mad at them for doing what they did. The author's note is so important! And I truly hold this book in a special place!

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ifersinklings's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

4.0

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leahlovesloslibros's review

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challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

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

2.5

Honestly, I don't know if I truly didn't like this book, or if I just read it at the wrong time. The plot, the characters, and the book as a whole were all only 'okay.'

To be honest, I don't even really feel like going into details. I didn't really enjoy it and I wouldn't read it again. I am glad that I didn't choose this book for my BOTM, as I would have felt like I wasted a credit. Listening on Libby (borrowed from library) was definitely the way to go on this one.

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