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luaucow's review
1.0
I couldn't bring myself to care enough about the characters to figure out who was narrating the different sections.
kellyherself's review
2.0
I'm participating in a reading challenge for 2012 and part of the challenge is to read two debut novels in the Women's Fiction genre. When I saw this book offered on Vine, I was very excited to read it. It fit in with my challenge and I adore novels that are written like short stories, but the stories tie together. Unfortunately, this novel ended up being better in the description that it actually was reading it.
The characters were very bland. I didn't particularly like or dislike any of them. I had problems connecting with the characters because they seemed so flat. They weren't compelling, they weren't interesting, they weren't unlikeable. They just were there.
The plot of the individual stories was mediocre, at best. Again, there was nothing compelling here. There was no plot action to root for or against. Frankly, the stories were cliched and often dull. Also, the short stories featured some of the main characters and overlapped, which is a narrative construct I enjoy. In this book, however, they association between the characters was very loose and I went long periods of reading without a particular character making an appearance, and I would somewhat forget how that character fit into the overall scheme.
I was very disappointed and bored with this novel. There are many excellent Women's Fiction novels out there, so I cannot say I would recommend this book.
The characters were very bland. I didn't particularly like or dislike any of them. I had problems connecting with the characters because they seemed so flat. They weren't compelling, they weren't interesting, they weren't unlikeable. They just were there.
The plot of the individual stories was mediocre, at best. Again, there was nothing compelling here. There was no plot action to root for or against. Frankly, the stories were cliched and often dull. Also, the short stories featured some of the main characters and overlapped, which is a narrative construct I enjoy. In this book, however, they association between the characters was very loose and I went long periods of reading without a particular character making an appearance, and I would somewhat forget how that character fit into the overall scheme.
I was very disappointed and bored with this novel. There are many excellent Women's Fiction novels out there, so I cannot say I would recommend this book.
amcorbin's review
3.0
Enjoyable and light reading, considering the unhappy characters stumbling around their lives. Not usually my thing, but it was an ARC from the publisher, and many of my friends would probably enjoy this.
I was thinking, because of the timing of my reading, that this is a literary version of the new HBO show Girls, only less annoying.
janet's review
3.0
I nearly stopped this one halfway through, thinking I'd already gotten everything from it I could. But the last third or quarter of the book is really beautifully done. Reents's stories are interwoven, creating loosely-connected group of stories focused on different women at different points in their lives. The first half of the book is too--dare I say it?--chick-lit-y for me, and the first two stories drove me a little nuts. But Reents is a wonderfully talented writer and walks the line between popular and literary fiction the closer she gets to the end of the book. I wish her editor had been a bit more heavy-handed and stern with the beginning stories: once you see how capable a writer she is, you may wish someone had encouraged her to rework the beginning of the book to keep it on par with its end.
First two-thirds: 2.5 stars.
Last third: 4 stars.
First two-thirds: 2.5 stars.
Last third: 4 stars.
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