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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
I originally requested this book because the author is from the area that I grew up in, and there's nothing I love more than books set in familiar places. I really enjoyed the writing of this novel, every time I picked it up I got sucked in and read huge chunks at a time. I'd be super interested in anything Ali Benjamin writes in the future.
Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for providing me with an eBook copy to review.
Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for providing me with an eBook copy to review.
This modern day retelling of 'Ethan Frome' focuses on "a quiet nowhere" (small town Massachusetts) and the Ethan of 'The Smash-Up' is the other half of a successful start-up though his founding partner is mired in "Me Too" accusations, wife Zenobia (known as Zo here) is apoplectic with rage since Trump took office (Ethan thought it would all be fine) and the love triangle of the original novel is not quite the same here.
The novel has a backdrop of Brett Kavanaugh's SCOTUS confirmation hearings. Some of the book works well. Some parts seemed a touch heavy-handed. Parts of the book worked for me and some passages did not.
The novel has a backdrop of Brett Kavanaugh's SCOTUS confirmation hearings. Some of the book works well. Some parts seemed a touch heavy-handed. Parts of the book worked for me and some passages did not.
I really, really liked this book.
Good read for a book club.
Has lots of messy complicated characters dealing with many of the hot topic social issues of current/recent times 2016-2020
The book draws inspiration from an Edith Wharton story Ethan Frome. I have not read the original story and maybe I will, but this book totally worked for me. I was hooked from start to finish. I didn’t find it predictable but maybe that’s because I didn’t read Ethan Frome.
Good read for a book club.
Has lots of messy complicated characters dealing with many of the hot topic social issues of current/recent times 2016-2020
The book draws inspiration from an Edith Wharton story Ethan Frome. I have not read the original story and maybe I will, but this book totally worked for me. I was hooked from start to finish. I didn’t find it predictable but maybe that’s because I didn’t read Ethan Frome.
The male character was too depressing especially in light of current political situation
Thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Books for the complimentary advance review copy of this book.
I loved this book. It tells the story of Ethan and Zo, a married couple who moved from New York into the suburbs, and are navigating life with a young daughter. The story weaves in the #MeToo movement, protesting, the digital age, the outcome of the 2016 Presidential Election and the effect it had (and continues to have) on society, societal divides, parenthood, and the fall out from the past catching up with Zo and Ethan. It’s brilliantly written and really engrossing.
I loved this book. It tells the story of Ethan and Zo, a married couple who moved from New York into the suburbs, and are navigating life with a young daughter. The story weaves in the #MeToo movement, protesting, the digital age, the outcome of the 2016 Presidential Election and the effect it had (and continues to have) on society, societal divides, parenthood, and the fall out from the past catching up with Zo and Ethan. It’s brilliantly written and really engrossing.
I was worried taking on this story that it would feel "too soon" or like it was just yesterday, and I was thankfully mistaken. This novel resonates and the characters pull you in and are written as real people - everyone has flaws, most have redeeming qualities. It's worth the read.
I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I wish I had read Ethan Frome, because if I had I might understand this book better.
The writing is decent--good, in fact--but most of it is wasted on describing the experience of a mediocre white man (Ethan), depicting a feminist white woman as a crazy person (Zo), and inserting a caricature of a millennial woman (Maddie) into the story. Yes, the 2016 election, the #MeToo movement, and the Brett Kavanaugh appointment are important and all worth highlighting, but filtering those events through Ethan's lens was unappealing to me.
Again, I should have realized it was going to focus on Ethan's POV more than Zo's, but trying to make this guy "nice" and likeable is futile.
I wish I had read Ethan Frome, because if I had I might understand this book better.
The writing is decent--good, in fact--but most of it is wasted on describing the experience of a mediocre white man (Ethan), depicting a feminist white woman as a crazy person (Zo), and inserting a caricature of a millennial woman (Maddie) into the story. Yes, the 2016 election, the #MeToo movement, and the Brett Kavanaugh appointment are important and all worth highlighting, but filtering those events through Ethan's lens was unappealing to me.
Again, I should have realized it was going to focus on Ethan's POV more than Zo's, but trying to make this guy "nice" and likeable is futile.
I stumbled upon this book by chance, and couldn’t stop reading it! It takes place over four days in a small town outside of New York in 2018, during the Supreme Court Hearing. Politics are at the core of this novel, as are family life, loyalty and relationships. Also, the writing is wonderful - I truly loved it.
I liked this one a lot more that I thought I would when I started reading it. I hard a hard time getting into the flow, but eventually I couldn't put it down. It was basically a retelling of Ethan Frome, which is probably my least favorite Edith Wharton book, with a lot of modern politics and social issues woven in. There were points where I wasn't sure what I was supposed to be feeling because there were faults with every character. But ultimately I think that was the point.