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3.13 AVERAGE
3.13 AVERAGE
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
I enjoyed the story but it was a bit slow for my taste. I loved the ending though!
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
A fun read
A fun story. Light hearted and entertaining. I can't wait to be this age. I love the sweet friendships formed.
A fun story. Light hearted and entertaining. I can't wait to be this age. I love the sweet friendships formed.
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
This was somewhere between "just okay" and "disappointing." I felt like I didn't know where the story was going after the first third of the book or so - not in a pleasant way that made me excited to continue, but in a way where I felt the book kept going beyond the natural and expected end-point. The way it *actually* ended also didn't feel like it tied up many of the loose ends the author had in the story, as several characters' arcs end more or less with the author shrugging and moving on to talk more about the pensioners.
Besides those notes, I've also read a few different iterations of "a book where at least one elderly person gets up to shenanigans involving the police" in the past few years, and this one was my least favorite of those by quite a measure.
Besides those notes, I've also read a few different iterations of "a book where at least one elderly person gets up to shenanigans involving the police" in the past few years, and this one was my least favorite of those by quite a measure.
If you (like me) enjoy stories about grumpy old people (#GrumpLit), then this is a fun read. A group of 5 seniors, dissatisfied with their situation at the retirement home, embark on a life of crime. It’s completely outlandish and ridiculous but still cute and funny.
dark
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
On the surface, it's a really funny heist story, as a group of pensioners break out of their retirement home and stage an audacious art theft from the nearby museum, which leaves the police baffled.
It does, however, ask a lot of questions about social care for the elderly. They decide to break out and stage a heist because they feel they'd get better treatment and food in prison. Their care home is run by a private company who put business and profit over the care of their charges - a situation that has not changed in real life since the book was written in 2012, a situation that pushes the delinquent pensioners to take extreme action. It's also a comment on the invisibility we gain as we age - the pensioners are not seen as serious suspects. No one can believe old people would behave this way so are immediately discounted.
For the pensioners that refuse to sit in a home locked away and rotting, the adventure unlocks a new lease of life for them. While some are timid in the beginning, each finds their own confidence and fun in their new criminal enterprise.