Reviews with content warning for Infidelity - Flying Solo

Journalist Laurie has been living life on her own terms in Seattle. This was her plan all along after growing up in a noisy, busy house with four brothers. She returns to her small hometown in Maine to help settle the estate of her great aunt, Dot, taking the burden off her parents and aunts, and off her brothers who would not be interested since they did not share a personal relationship with Dot. As she goes through personal belongings and pictures, she discovers a commonality and a family secret, and with help from old friends, new friends, and her first love, she sets out to solve the mystery and right a wrong. Along the way, she learns more about herself and what she wants in her life. She comes up with a solution that seemingly enables her to have it all, but it felt too one-sided to be sustainable, in my opinion. Although I felt the ending was unrealistic, I still enjoyed the storyline.

Content Warnings

theespressoedition's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.0

I'm not sure why I was surprised by how much I liked this book. After reading and loving Evvie Drake Starts Over, I should've made the assumption that I'd adore this. However, it's been several years since I read Linda's previous book and my tastes have changed so much that part of me just thought I'd be let down. Thankfully, I wasn't let down at all!

The book opens with the most heartwarming flashbacks to Laurie's precious relationship with her great-aunt, Dot. You immediately fall in love with the tenderness they felt toward one another and you see that Laurie's adult life was greatly impacted by Dot's influence on her as a child. There's this very nostalgic feeling that takes over right away. It's comforting, even.

Then you learn about the duck. Out of context, this sounds strange. However, the mystery of the duck is way more intriguing than you can even imagine. While the answer to this mystery wound up feeling slightly predictable to me, I did enjoy the journey to finding out more about the creator of the duck and all of the hijinks they had to go through along the way to reach this conclusion. It gave the story a well-rounded feeling and brought so much more depth to the secondary characters as well as the primary cast.

I was immensely pleased by the romance aspect of this novel. Laurie's second-chance romance is sweet, meaningful, and just a little bit sexy (in all the right ways). It's also a breakthrough for her. I absolutely loved watching the character development that took place as she fell in love (all over again) and realized what that meant for her life and the way she'd been living for so long. It was impactful and well-written. There wasn't an excessive amount of grandeur or fluff. It felt real.

I truly did love Flying Solo. I can see myself picking it up again and again as a comfort read. It's entertaining and creative, with just the right balance of humor and depth. I highly recommend it.

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crystalleighwrites's review against another edition

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funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

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

5.0

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leighannebfd3b's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

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atamano's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful 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

3.5

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caitlinjadams's review against another edition

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hopeful mysterious reflective relaxing medium-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? Yes

4.75

This book was a hug and a vacation and I feel…settled… in a really lovely way having just finished it.

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prettiestwhistles's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted 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

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purplepenning's review

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

I love a book that brings in elements of various genres, even though it makes it hard to shelve and can invite harsher reviews due to an expectation gap. I rarely write reviews in response to what others are saying about a book, but I feel oddly compelled to clarify: This is decidedly "women's fiction," if that label retains any meaning, and "white women's fiction" at that. But along with the heartwarming, feminist, midlife story of a woman returning home to a small town in Maine to clean out the house after her favorite, never-married, great-aunt dies, there are elements of mystery and romance. It isn't a mystery and it isn't a romance, but it's a story that could appeal to readers of either genre who occasionally dip a toe into general or literary fiction when the right book comes along. I like to dip a toe, especially if it's for the rare general or literary specimen that has hope for a satisfyingly happy ending, like this one.

Things I loved:

The friend group. Some reviewers found the dialogue and banter a *bit much* but it's what drew me in and kept me around until the mystery of the duck and deeper personal development kicked in. Yes, the dialogue is a bit more witty and polished than you might get in real life, but these are writers and librarians and long-time friends. I've been in and around such groups often, and it felt spot-on to me. Thoroughly enjoyed eavesdropping on them.
The journey the duck takes us on. I don't care much about wooden duck decoys and couldn't really engage in the beauty or artistry of it, but of course it's not really about the duck. I enjoyed the heck out of the ride from secret relic to thrilling intrigue to sweet, complicated, empowering truths.
The uncompromising compromises. Life and personal needs are complicated and sometimes, for the sake of the story or harmony or whatever, those complications are forced into a tidy box, or rolled over with toxicity positivity, or wallowed in for the good misery of it all. That wasn't the approach here. Yes, there was some angst, but complications are allowed to be complicated and solutions are allowed to be creative, and I appreciated it.
The sexy librarian guy and the friends-to-lovers/second-chance-romance vibes. I'm not understanding any of the hate for the sexy librarian guy. Research is definitely one of my love languages, so Nick is prime book boyfriend material.
The representation. The non-issue presentation of Laurie as a size 18 was refreshing. And so were the multifaceted, non-infantilizing portrayals of the over-80s characters.
The whole Scooby gang feel to the investigative/researching/mystery aspects. And every single time Laurie thinks "This f*cking guy."

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