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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
After having loved quirky Nina Hill and her bookish life, I could not wait to see what Abbi Waxman brought us next in I Was Told It Would Get Easier.
Emily has her sights set on college when she and her mother, Jessica, schedule a big college tour all over the east coast.
Jessica is excited about the tour with her daughter, thinking they’ll have time to bond and reconnect before Emily leaves the nest. They have grown apart as often happens with teen daughters; friends becoming more important. Jessica turns inward, though. She’s unhappy with herself and doesn’t blame her daughter for not liking her much.
Emily has her own share of personal struggles. She feels like no one at school likes her, and she wonders if college will be more of the same.
I enjoyed this glimpse into mother-daughter relationships. Jessica and Emily insightful, and they share their innermost thoughts with the reader. I found the tour set-up entertaining, where they see different relatives and friends along the way, and Jessica’s wittiness kept me smiling.
Overall, I Was Told It Would Get Easier was a thoughtful, clever, feel-good read, and I’m ready to see what Waxman brings us next!
I received a gifted copy. All opinions are my own.
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
Emily has her sights set on college when she and her mother, Jessica, schedule a big college tour all over the east coast.
Jessica is excited about the tour with her daughter, thinking they’ll have time to bond and reconnect before Emily leaves the nest. They have grown apart as often happens with teen daughters; friends becoming more important. Jessica turns inward, though. She’s unhappy with herself and doesn’t blame her daughter for not liking her much.
Emily has her own share of personal struggles. She feels like no one at school likes her, and she wonders if college will be more of the same.
I enjoyed this glimpse into mother-daughter relationships. Jessica and Emily insightful, and they share their innermost thoughts with the reader. I found the tour set-up entertaining, where they see different relatives and friends along the way, and Jessica’s wittiness kept me smiling.
Overall, I Was Told It Would Get Easier was a thoughtful, clever, feel-good read, and I’m ready to see what Waxman brings us next!
I received a gifted copy. All opinions are my own.
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
I just adore Abbi Waxman. That's all I can say.. I don't have kids, can't even imagine how complicated it must be as a single mom with a teenage girl getting ready to leave for college nowadays. Can't even relate to any of it, as far as my own life.
So why am I reading stuff about lives so different from mine?? Because she is hilarious, wise, fascinating, and she just grabs the reader and never lets go. LOVE her characters, love her use of POV (which I am usually not a fan of switching around), and the slow unfold of what is really going on.
Thank you, Abbi Waxman, for another nearly sleepless night, gobbling down your delicious conclusion.
You are a master of "Show, don't tell."
So why am I reading stuff about lives so different from mine?? Because she is hilarious, wise, fascinating, and she just grabs the reader and never lets go. LOVE her characters, love her use of POV (which I am usually not a fan of switching around), and the slow unfold of what is really going on.
Thank you, Abbi Waxman, for another nearly sleepless night, gobbling down your delicious conclusion.
You are a master of "Show, don't tell."
This was adorable, fun, humorous and came JUST at the right time.
Fun, easy read. Super relatable (uncomfortably so at times.) A little bummed there wasn’t more when Jessica and Emily returned home from the trip.
The newest from Waxman is delightful. Told via two point of views the book at times is heartbreaking and also funny. I thought Waxman hit a real sweet spot with this book. I am sure mothers and daughters everwhere will definitely sympathize for both sides while reading.
"I Was Told it Would Get Easier" follows single mother and lawyer Jessica Burnstein. Jessica is dealing with a jerk of a boss and doing what she can to get one of her mentees and another woman at her firm promoted to partner. Dealing with that roadblock as she is about to depart to take her daughter Emily on a tour of colleges on the East Coast definitely is not what she would have preferred. Jessica hopes that this tour will allow her and Emily to get back to the closeness they once shared. Or at least for Jessica to not want to strangle her daughter every other minute. Emily is going through some things. She sees her mother as successful and she is proud of her, but she doesn't want her to know that. Also her mother drives her up the wall. Going on a college tour is not what Emily really wants to do. There is also something going on back at her school that has her worried, a cute boy on the tour though starts to turn her mind to other things.
This was really great. I loved Jessica and Emily. You can see both sides while reading this one. The book is broken up by their tours. They go from D.C to New York and along the way get to meet new people and also try to hide from a mother and daughter duo they know from back in Los Angeles. What I really loved is you get to see a bunch of parents dealing with letting go of their kids and also at times wanting to throttle them. There's love and aggravation galore going on. There's a hilarious scene between Jessica and two other parents that had me howling. Jessica also meets up with a former boyfriend and woo boy that whole thing was beyond hilarious. I also loved that Emily realizes that college and all that entails is not exactly what she wants. We do eventually find out what Emily wants to do, and I have to say it was a pleasant surprise.
The writing was great and the flow works throughout.
The book moves settings several times while reading and you keep meeting different characters you wanted to know more about.
I loved the ending of the book.
"I Was Told it Would Get Easier" follows single mother and lawyer Jessica Burnstein. Jessica is dealing with a jerk of a boss and doing what she can to get one of her mentees and another woman at her firm promoted to partner. Dealing with that roadblock as she is about to depart to take her daughter Emily on a tour of colleges on the East Coast definitely is not what she would have preferred. Jessica hopes that this tour will allow her and Emily to get back to the closeness they once shared. Or at least for Jessica to not want to strangle her daughter every other minute. Emily is going through some things. She sees her mother as successful and she is proud of her, but she doesn't want her to know that. Also her mother drives her up the wall. Going on a college tour is not what Emily really wants to do. There is also something going on back at her school that has her worried, a cute boy on the tour though starts to turn her mind to other things.
This was really great. I loved Jessica and Emily. You can see both sides while reading this one. The book is broken up by their tours. They go from D.C to New York and along the way get to meet new people and also try to hide from a mother and daughter duo they know from back in Los Angeles. What I really loved is you get to see a bunch of parents dealing with letting go of their kids and also at times wanting to throttle them. There's love and aggravation galore going on. There's a hilarious scene between Jessica and two other parents that had me howling. Jessica also meets up with a former boyfriend and woo boy that whole thing was beyond hilarious. I also loved that Emily realizes that college and all that entails is not exactly what she wants. We do eventually find out what Emily wants to do, and I have to say it was a pleasant surprise.
The writing was great and the flow works throughout.
The book moves settings several times while reading and you keep meeting different characters you wanted to know more about.
I loved the ending of the book.
Physical book. Enjoyed the banter but felt bad for the mother-daughter and all their missed moments. Also made me not look forward to parenting my two kids through the teen years, but I hope I have good girlfriends to help get me through.
“Frances’ Home for Unloved Mothers. We appreciate you when no one else does.”
The dynamic between Jess and Frances- love it! Love the dialogue/witty banter.
“I scare because I care.”
“A strong female friendship is like a romance that kept its mystery and never beaches itself on the shores of exhausted intimacy.”
“I knew she was The Friend for Me when one day she showed up at my door with toilet paper because she’d seen it written on the back of my hand and knew I hadn’t made it to the store that day, and she had.”
“Work is not life. Work is how you pay for food. You should ask us the kind of life we want to live instead... I want a job I can forget at the end of the day, where I don’t work weekends, where I make enough money to live on my own and have a garden. Wouldn’t it be better to start there? ... Work isn’t supposed to be your life... Your life is supposed to be your life.”
“Parenting teenagers is something of a shit show.”
“Frances’ Home for Unloved Mothers. We appreciate you when no one else does.”
The dynamic between Jess and Frances- love it! Love the dialogue/witty banter.
“I scare because I care.”
“A strong female friendship is like a romance that kept its mystery and never beaches itself on the shores of exhausted intimacy.”
“I knew she was The Friend for Me when one day she showed up at my door with toilet paper because she’d seen it written on the back of my hand and knew I hadn’t made it to the store that day, and she had.”
“Work is not life. Work is how you pay for food. You should ask us the kind of life we want to live instead... I want a job I can forget at the end of the day, where I don’t work weekends, where I make enough money to live on my own and have a garden. Wouldn’t it be better to start there? ... Work isn’t supposed to be your life... Your life is supposed to be your life.”
“Parenting teenagers is something of a shit show.”
Cute, fluffy, Gilmore Girl-style book. Relatable to any mom of a teen girl on some level. An easy read.