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2.97 AVERAGE
2.97 AVERAGE
Wow, this book was fun! It's smart, dark, and very funny. The book has a dual timeline POV and I think both worked well, though I was most compelled by the present storyline. I really appreciated the nuanced and sometimes difficult choices the characters made when it came to relationships, secrets, and being vulnerable with one another, especially when it came to difficult families and estrangement. The surprise plot point at about 50% had me totally mindblown and was super well done (I won't spoil it for everyone else, but lol). I also love the cover!!
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This novel is a lovely addition to the genre of reflections on domestic life. I was most interested in the present-day portions, absolutely drawn to the Eleanor and the ways in which she was navigating grief and life. Early on, where the book looks at the dynamics between Eleanor and her mother were really captivating, and I would have liked more exploration of that relationship throughout the book. The flashes back to her father's story were least compelling to me--as a character, he felt predictably terrible, aloof, abusive, and absent.
I love a book heavy on ambiguity--it lets my imagination roam--and this book was generous in this regard. I appreciated how few answers it gave despite the myriad questions it raised. I also enjoyed how it portioned out information--dropping consequential answers as though they were nothing, just laid out alongside the mundane or that which we should already know. The way Chang did this added a compelling rhythm to the book--interspersing the minute with the high-magnitude. It felt like a reflection of how, when we're living our lives, we so often don't know which moments will be major.
Eleanor as a child and as an adult was really fun to read about. I didn't always understand her motivations (and why should I?) but I loved cringing along with her decisions that often made a mess of things. Chang's concept of the Quitter's Paradise and Eleanor's journey there were compelling. I don't know what to make of the last third of the book--her voice seems muted and her relationships lose their contour. Because of that, the book ended with a fizzle for me. But the first 2/3 were a captivating and quick-paced read.
I love a book heavy on ambiguity--it lets my imagination roam--and this book was generous in this regard. I appreciated how few answers it gave despite the myriad questions it raised. I also enjoyed how it portioned out information--dropping consequential answers as though they were nothing, just laid out alongside the mundane or that which we should already know. The way Chang did this added a compelling rhythm to the book--interspersing the minute with the high-magnitude. It felt like a reflection of how, when we're living our lives, we so often don't know which moments will be major.
Eleanor as a child and as an adult was really fun to read about. I didn't always understand her motivations (and why should I?) but I loved cringing along with her decisions that often made a mess of things. Chang's concept of the Quitter's Paradise and Eleanor's journey there were compelling. I don't know what to make of the last third of the book--her voice seems muted and her relationships lose their contour. Because of that, the book ended with a fizzle for me. But the first 2/3 were a captivating and quick-paced read.
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A Quitter’s Paradise is one of those books that I’m not entirely sure I liked, but I will think about for a while. It transcends enjoyment.
Eleanor gets married to Ellis, her mother dies, and she drops out of her PhD program. Ellis hires her as a lab assistant at his postdoc, where she officially helps him and unofficially conducts her own research. And everything is fine, until she accidentally sets the lab on fire, steals a marmoset, and tries to make sense of her life without her mother. Alternating with the story of her parents’ migration to the US and her childhood, Eleanor is just trying to figure out who she is amongst all of the chaos.
Eleanor is kind of a flat character, but it works well: she’s accommodating, quiet, and probably a little depressed. She makes terrible and inexplicable choices, but her air of casualness about everything is more endearing than obnoxious. This is a book in which lots happens and also nothing at all. It’s impressive how Chang manages to elude any concrete statements in the novel, to match with how I felt about it.
I received this ARC via NetGalley.
Eleanor gets married to Ellis, her mother dies, and she drops out of her PhD program. Ellis hires her as a lab assistant at his postdoc, where she officially helps him and unofficially conducts her own research. And everything is fine, until she accidentally sets the lab on fire, steals a marmoset, and tries to make sense of her life without her mother. Alternating with the story of her parents’ migration to the US and her childhood, Eleanor is just trying to figure out who she is amongst all of the chaos.
Eleanor is kind of a flat character, but it works well: she’s accommodating, quiet, and probably a little depressed. She makes terrible and inexplicable choices, but her air of casualness about everything is more endearing than obnoxious. This is a book in which lots happens and also nothing at all. It’s impressive how Chang manages to elude any concrete statements in the novel, to match with how I felt about it.
I received this ARC via NetGalley.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Interesting and well written novel about love and loss, grief, and a woman searching for her place in her own life story. Non-linear storytelling and at times more detail heavy than I care for, but her writing stopped me in my tracks several times to take down notes that struck me as profound. I really enjoyed the writing style overall, perhaps even more than the story.