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cimmalex's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Porter was by far the most annoying character to me, and I think it’s very lazy the cheese maker is named Porter. I just have to get that out there. She is almost 40 years old and thought her high school boyfriend belonged to her and no one else (including his wife) because she “had him first”? What kind of mentality is that? Insane behavior from this one throughout the whole book. Very wild.
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Transphobia, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Dysphoria
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Infertility, Dementia, Abortion, and Outing
taraaleitz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
A little disappointed. I really wanted to love this book because This Time Tomorrow was soooo good, but this one fell a little flat for me. I liked that there were many characters to focus in on, but the whole book was ultimately based around poor communication between characters and/or poor choices. I loved how different each of the characters lives were and that there was diversity in the ages of the characters—making it a little interesting, but it didn’t feel like there was truly any real plot. Halfway through the book, I re-read the synopsis and I felt as though I already knew everything the synopsis talked about.
There was no true “climax” and this wasn’t a book where I was eagerly anticipating the next thing. A slower read for me.
Graphic: Pregnancy
Moderate: Death, Car accident, and Death of parent
Minor: Sexual content and Abortion
beatriks's review against another edition
- 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
I would recommend not stretching out the reading of this book for too long, otherwise you might forget what happened.
My favorite characters were Porter and Cecelia.
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Death of parent
Minor: Infertility, Abortion, and Gaslighting
daretocarebear's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death and Death of parent
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Sexual content
vanessanalmeida's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Car accident, and Pregnancy
linesiunderline's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Emma Straub manages a lot in a relatively short novel, and the writing is a pleasure.
Highly recommended on audio. It was breezy and more-ish to listen to.
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Car accident, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Homophobia, Infertility, Sexual content, Transphobia, Dementia, Grief, and Abortion
flavinja's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Bullying and Pedophilia
Minor: Homophobia, Sexual content, and Transphobia
lauraorourke's review against another edition
- 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
This is a book about a family. It is about parenthood. It is about getting older and memories and love and belonging. It is about how our identity grows out of the soil of our family and community, the good and the bad, and how we try to stand on our own but realize we shouldn't have to do it alone. It is about all the transitions of life, which is essentially what growing older is -- one transition after another until we finally transition from life to death. (If you're reading this book, take note of crossings -- the crossing guard, crossing the street... I think that's pointing to this theme of transition).
"Being an adult was like always growing new layers of skin, trying to fool yourself that the bones underneath were different too." (Chapter 35)
This book was absolutely heartwarming. I smiled almost the entire way through. It absolutely had some laugh out loud moments. My eyes teared up a few times while reading like they are now as I reflect on what a beautiful experience reading this book was. There is so much truth written into this book. There was so much about the sibling relationship I related to. The central character, an older woman named Astrid, narrated her chapters with words and phrases I've heard my parents use. This book made me feel like I was going home, and it made me miss home. I've seen some reviews say this is a dysfunctional family, but I don't know. To me, this looked like a real family, with deep love and deep history and everything that entails.
This book showed what diverse families and acceptance can look like better than a a recent book I've read called Every Heart a Doorway. And if you like the movie The Family Stone or the shows Parenthood or Brothers and Sisters, I think you'll love this book. This book has that kind of feel to it. I would highlight some trigger warnings. Notably infidelity, car accident death, the death of a spouse, abortion, sexual assault. Some of these are very minor points, but I expect could be jarring to readers trying to avoid those issues due to their own trauma.
Graphic: Infidelity
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Car accident, and Death of parent
Minor: Infertility, Sexual assault, and Abortion
leahlovesloslibros's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I will admit, I was not immediately drawn into this story. I usually don't mind multiple POV, but for the first chunk of this book, I was having a hard time following the story lines. I'm glad I pushed through. Straub had a creative way of weaving characters' lives into each other, not just within the family, but also in the relationships that we see among characters living in a small town. I can relate to this, having grown up in a Midwestern suburb where not many people leave, and often you have the 'everyone knows everyone and their business' feeling.
Another enjoyable aspect of this book was that the author didn't shy away from hard topics. This story delves into many such topics, including but not limited to: homophobia, transphobia, death, death of a parent, grief, infidelity, addiction, infertility, miscarriage, abortion. Some of these topics are mentioned briefly, but many are woven into characters' storylines, which shows their flaws and makes the story more relatable.
If you grew up in a small town, I definitely recommend this read. If you didn't, I still recommend this read. I believe everyone will find someone or something relatable in this book.
Graphic: Death, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent
Moderate: Cursing, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Sexual content, and Abortion
Minor: Drug use and Miscarriage
There is a brief Harry Potter reference.morganperks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, and Car accident
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Deadnaming, Infertility, and Pedophilia
Minor: Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Transphobia, Medical content, and Abortion