716 reviews for:

MS Demeanor

Elinor Lipman

3.27 AVERAGE

allisonhollingsworth's review against another edition

2.5

medium-paced

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This book has a funny premise: a lawyer named Jane is put on house arrest after someone complains to the cops about her doing the deed in open air on the roof of her apartment building. I totally thought that this whole plot was going to be drawn out longer than it was; the first few pages we already get a lowdown that it happened and that her license to practice law has been suspended and that Jane is now on house arrest. It made me wonder — wait, what now? What’s the plot of the book? It turns out there’s another person in her apartment who is also on house arrest, and so she makes it a point to introduce herself to him. She finds that that he worked with important art and that he decided to steal the lid of a very expensive teapot so that people wouldn’t bid on it at auction and so he could instead get it as a gift for his parents’ anniversary. But he got caught, and here he is. Jane thinks that, like her so-called crime, the punishments doesn’t fit. Jane actually has a big support system around her. Her twin sister Jacklyn is trying to find something for her to do to give her life meaning during house arrest, so she gets Jane into cooking. She encourages her to make videos and then to start her own sort of mini catering business for Perry, the guy on house arrest. Turns out he orders take-out every night and will pay Jane to cook for him. This all sounds very romantic comedy but about a third of the way in I was a bit underwhelmed. I didn’t really feel any spark or high enough stakes to make me want to keep reading. It didn’t feel like Jane really had to do this for Perry. Nothing would really be lost if she decided not to. It wasn’t exciting. We do then find out that this woman who snitched on Jane passes away and that she left a letter saying that if she were to die to question Jane. Like the NERVE???? Jane and Perry also decide on a new arrangement: to be friends with benefits, since it makes sense for them being stuck in the same building. Jane also gets close to the (grown) children that the woman who turned her in had nannied. Turns out this lady wasn’t so innocent; she had actually had an arrangement with their father and birthed one of the kids. And Jane gets caught up in how they have expired visas to live in the states and accidentally helps one of the kids get in a green card marriage with one of her friends. Like, it’s funny, but also, I think I’m missing what the plot is here. It feels so random. But then they end up getting caught and the guy is deported and her friend is mad at her. This also I didn’t really understand why this happened, I might be missing some part of metaphor or something. Eventually the six months of home confinement ends and so does Perry’s and Perry takes her out to this nice restaurant and proposes which is sweet and honestly the rest of the book is fairly happy; they actually end up buying the lady who accused her’s place across the way because it was so nice and it has a big kitchen for Jane to use for her cooking. Both her and Perry are building their lives back up after this incident. Again, I didn’t really feel like this book was cohesive. I think maybe the point is that Jane discovered someone she loves in an unlikely place and also that she found something she’s really interested in, like cooking, instead of just being a lawyer. But the story felt like it was missing something for me. there were still some really funny parts and the writing itself flowed really nicely. I think it was mostly a plot issue for me. 

ssnider002's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous funny lighthearted

sleepykrissy's review against another edition

3.0

funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

mauraz's review against another edition

4.25

funny lighthearted fast-paced

charnrudai's review against another edition

3.0

emotional funny hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

_____hannah's review against another edition

3.5

funny lighthearted medium-paced

laurenabayne's review against another edition

4.0

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hysterical premise. artfully done.

christie_889's review against another edition

2.0

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The beginning of this story was fun and entertaining. The idea of two otherwise successful people finding themselves under house arrest and then finding each other. The chapters were short and quick which kept me reading longer than I planned each night.

Fast forward to a strange green card marriage with characters not well tied to the plot and an ending that felt abrupt and ridiculously unbelievable, I closed the book feeling annoyed.

It’s an easy read and certainly a fine book if you just are looking for a distraction - perhaps on a flight - but it’s not one I would recommend to a friend.

jasperelio's review against another edition

2.5

lighthearted relaxing slow-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

jenn_reads's review against another edition

3.75

funny 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