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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-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
I chose Penelope in Retrograde as my Amazon Prime first read for September as it was one of my anticipated fall books. Brooke Abram’s debut novel managed to tell a <i>full </i> story in just 238 pages. It’s always fun and meta to read a romance book about a romance writer. I actually found the story less to be about romance and more about estranged family, feelings around divorce, and complex family relationships all taking place during Thanksgiving. I mean, how often do you read a romance style book about Thanksgiving?
My favorite aspect of the story is the flashbacks to various Thanksgivings of the past, which explain why the present holiday celebration is tense. The banter was great, Penelope is a quirky and fun character. A great story of complex interpersonal relationships.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death of parent
The first few chapters were funny but the book as a whole felt way too underdeveloped and underwhelming. It was more like an outline of a book with witty dialogue (though even that tapered out at the end) than an actual book with well thought-out characters.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'll be honest, I didn't love this book. It was a quick read, and I was invested enough to finish it, but... It's not a re-read, and I wouldn't recommend it. Fully 100% my opinion.
If you're looking for a simple read that does what it says on the tin, this is it. I wish there had been more reviews to choose from when I picked this up though, I likely would have avoided it. It feels mostly like if you took Gilmore Girls, but edited it down to only the parts where Lorelei's at her parents' house... but she was still telling the viewers about this life she leads in Stars Hollow (like, okay? Prove it? Show us?)
For a story that's so focused on the characters, none of them are more than stereotypes, which is disappointing. They're all pretty flat and not *un*likable, but they're not exactly people I cared much about.
The drama and plot points are contrived, the romance is boring, and the book tries to be a lot funnier than it actually is.
If you're looking for a simple read that does what it says on the tin, this is it. I wish there had been more reviews to choose from when I picked this up though, I likely would have avoided it. It feels mostly like if you took Gilmore Girls, but edited it down to only the parts where Lorelei's at her parents' house... but she was still telling the viewers about this life she leads in Stars Hollow (like, okay? Prove it? Show us?)
For a story that's so focused on the characters, none of them are more than stereotypes, which is disappointing. They're all pretty flat and not *un*likable, but they're not exactly people I cared much about.
The drama and plot points are contrived, the romance is boring, and the book tries to be a lot funnier than it actually is.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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