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357 reviews for:

Groundskeeping

Lee Cole

3.67 AVERAGE

funny reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
emotional reflective slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
dark emotional hopeful reflective relaxing sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

My favorite character was Kentucky. The author has a lot of feelings about his home state and managed to present its complexity and celebrate its character.

It’s the most “MFA” book I’ve read… not saying that’s a dis, entirely, just that I was not surprised one bit when I got to the end and the author’s note indicated that Lee Cole was a graduate of the Iowa writers workshop. I would have been more surprised if he hadn’t attended a reputation-bloated MFA program. Academia and the pursuit of literary prestige is front and center in this book. 

I made an exception to my current rule of “no books by white men” because my dad was a groundskeeper at a university and I was curious to see that role represented in fiction. It was a pleasurable read, a story that I wanted to return to, to see how it progressed, but after just one exception I’m already tired of the cis-hetero white male perspective and ready to return to reading books by anybody BUT cis-hetero white men.
emotional 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
emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
reflective slow-paced
reflective slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I read that this was supposed to be one of the best books of Spring 2022 and I really can't see why. The main character is self-pitying and I wanted to punch him in the face. I wanted to read Alma's book instead, because she was cool. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood to hear men complaining about Donald Trump.
emotional reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
emotional slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No