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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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:
Complicated
I was not prepared for how wildly good this was. I got this as an arc a long time ago and didn’t prioritize it. I wish I would have. It’s incredibly written and deeply emotional. A beautiful story of what if, friendship, and love.
I have to say that “Like a House on Fire” by Lauren McBrayer surprised me by how much I ended up enjoying it. I saw some of the early ratings and it discouraged me from reading it right away. In the end I was glad I did and will be on the lookout for more from her.
I want to say up front that I don’t think this will be everyone’s cup of tea. First off, there’s cheating and I know that’s a big deal for a lot of people. Also, this isn’t a romance although there is a romance in it and the romance is important to the main character, Merit. This is more a woman coming out later in life after realizing how unhappy she is with her life.
What I found interesting is that I didn’t find any of the characters particularly likeable although I didn’t hate them either. They were all kind of messy and felt like real people, and obviously it was enough to compel me to want to read all the way through to the end. Neither Cory, Merit’s husband or Jane, Merit’s boss, were completely fleshed out so it’s hard to say with them and I also didn’t trust Merit’s voice all the time. This is told her from her point of view so her issues with her husband come from a place of miscommunication/lack of communication almost all of the time. He comes across as pretty checked out while at home but who knows if that’s true or just how Merit sees him.
There were a couple of issues for me. The pacing and how much time between chapters wasn’t always clear to me. The book spans several years and that isn’t always my favorite because I feel like we miss some important things. I also had a small issue with the ending. It felt sudden and then there’s an epilogue set 5 years later so we find out what happens but not how. I wanted to know the how! Especially after going through several years of these people’s lives.
Like I said, in the end, I really enjoyed this and hope we get more sapphic stories from McBrayer in the future.
I received an ARC from Penguin Group Putnam via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I want to say up front that I don’t think this will be everyone’s cup of tea. First off, there’s cheating and I know that’s a big deal for a lot of people. Also, this isn’t a romance although there is a romance in it and the romance is important to the main character, Merit. This is more a woman coming out later in life after realizing how unhappy she is with her life.
What I found interesting is that I didn’t find any of the characters particularly likeable although I didn’t hate them either. They were all kind of messy and felt like real people, and obviously it was enough to compel me to want to read all the way through to the end. Neither Cory, Merit’s husband or Jane, Merit’s boss, were completely fleshed out so it’s hard to say with them and I also didn’t trust Merit’s voice all the time. This is told her from her point of view so her issues with her husband come from a place of miscommunication/lack of communication almost all of the time. He comes across as pretty checked out while at home but who knows if that’s true or just how Merit sees him.
There were a couple of issues for me. The pacing and how much time between chapters wasn’t always clear to me. The book spans several years and that isn’t always my favorite because I feel like we miss some important things. I also had a small issue with the ending. It felt sudden and then there’s an epilogue set 5 years later so we find out what happens but not how. I wanted to know the how! Especially after going through several years of these people’s lives.
Like I said, in the end, I really enjoyed this and hope we get more sapphic stories from McBrayer in the future.
I received an ARC from Penguin Group Putnam via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
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:
No
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
cannot be bothered
update: i finished it out of sheer will. it was annoying as fuck
update: i finished it out of sheer will. it was annoying as fuck
Don’t like the decisions Merit makes especially the cheating.
So I finished it and I'm not sure if I loved it or not, but sometimes when I was reading it I felt like I *did*.
This book spoke to me as a forty-ish woman who at one point in my life secretly thought it would just be NICE if I could drop my newborn baby off at the fire department's Safe Harbor infant drop for like 8 hours so I could just get some goddamn sleep.
This gave me the same feeling as that book Leave Me where the mom of 4 year old twins has a surprise heart attack and a midlife crisis and runs off, except Merit only...mentally runs off. But is it really mentally running off? Or is it more about permission to be your ~*authentic self*~ no matter how entrenched you feel in your life choices?
Points off in theory because the narrative ends before anyone has to actually go through the mental work to make a Hard and Life Changing Choice and then picks up 5 years later with a "this is how it all worked out" epilogue.
A love story I didn't know I wanted, but that made my heart grow anyway.
Sometimes, after getting to/having to make SO MANY life choices in your teens and twenties, being 30-40, especially with kid(s) leaves you feeling completely constricted. And there's a pull between this life/motherhood and the kind of person you used to be/thought you were/wanted to be. There's a lot (A LOT) of adult contemporary women's fiction that explores motherhood through this lens, but I found this one to be especially poignant because in the end it was totally unapologetic.
I loved the magic of the friendship that became more in this one, especially because it wasn't always "ugh my body is terrible" but it was tempered by "ugh I feel like my body is terrible but clearly I shouldn't feel that way because I'm also in love with a woman 19 years my senior and her body is fantastic."
I mean sometimes I though Merit was being absolutely terrible. Sometimes I was jealous of her. And sometimes I felt so lucky to have the kind of life where I still break down crying happy tears when I hear the song that played at my wedding's first dance.
IDK, IDK, IDK.
This book spoke to me as a forty-ish woman who at one point in my life secretly thought it would just be NICE if I could drop my newborn baby off at the fire department's Safe Harbor infant drop for like 8 hours so I could just get some goddamn sleep.
This gave me the same feeling as that book Leave Me where the mom of 4 year old twins has a surprise heart attack and a midlife crisis and runs off, except Merit only...mentally runs off. But is it really mentally running off? Or is it more about permission to be your ~*authentic self*~ no matter how entrenched you feel in your life choices?
Points off in theory because the narrative ends before anyone has to actually go through the mental work to make a Hard and Life Changing Choice and then picks up 5 years later with a "this is how it all worked out" epilogue.
A love story I didn't know I wanted, but that made my heart grow anyway.
Spoiler
Listen, I am not planning to run off from my husband to have an affair with my glamorous and amazing female boss, but the point of the story is this -Sometimes, after getting to/having to make SO MANY life choices in your teens and twenties, being 30-40, especially with kid(s) leaves you feeling completely constricted. And there's a pull between this life/motherhood and the kind of person you used to be/thought you were/wanted to be. There's a lot (A LOT) of adult contemporary women's fiction that explores motherhood through this lens, but I found this one to be especially poignant because in the end it was totally unapologetic.
I loved the magic of the friendship that became more in this one, especially because it wasn't always "ugh my body is terrible" but it was tempered by "ugh I feel like my body is terrible but clearly I shouldn't feel that way because I'm also in love with a woman 19 years my senior and her body is fantastic."
I mean sometimes I though Merit was being absolutely terrible. Sometimes I was jealous of her. And sometimes I felt so lucky to have the kind of life where I still break down crying happy tears when I hear the song that played at my wedding's first dance.
IDK, IDK, IDK.
I think this book is so well written and raw, open, and honest. I was drawn in immediately and hardly wanted to put it down or focus on anything else. The ending and the way it was written was absolutely chefs kiss.
The only things I didn’t particularly like about it was how her relationship with Jane became almost purely physical and it lost that deeper connection in my eyes. It seemed like Merit was in an experimental phase and being reckless. I also didn’t like how much time she spent away from her kids and how much she relied on a babysitter so she could live her best fantasy.
That’s just my personal gripe. All in all, loved reading this and I’m so happy that I did!
The only things I didn’t particularly like about it was how her relationship with Jane became almost purely physical and it lost that deeper connection in my eyes. It seemed like Merit was in an experimental phase and being reckless. I also didn’t like how much time she spent away from her kids and how much she relied on a babysitter so she could live her best fantasy.
That’s just my personal gripe. All in all, loved reading this and I’m so happy that I did!
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated