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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The descendant of a missionary family faces a series of crises when his family land trust comes up for a vote on selling, he discovers his beloved wife, in a coma from a boating accident, has been having an affair, and he finds himself in sole custody of his two difficult, wonderful daughters. The basis for the great movie with George Clooney. I enjoyed this the first time but loved it even more when I re-read it in Hawaii, while visiting some of the sites he describes and visiting with an old college friend who is also a "descendant."
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really thought I would like this book, which is about numerous things that I love to read about: dysfunctional families and Hawaii. In fact, the Hawaiian setting was one of the few things I did enjoy about it. The strength of its presence was delightful and also made perfect sense to the plot of the story - the plot being another thing I liked, in a vague sense. It was in the details that things just went downhill. The writing is just awful, self indulgent and littered with needless, pointless details. It reminded me of some of the things I wrote for creative writing class in high school, which is not a good thing. For example, during what is supposed to be a moving scene in which the protagonist, Matt, and his two daughters visit their dying mother in the hospital, Matt compares his ten-year-old daughter's blotchy face to how he looks when he's "having sex." This leads me to another things I disliked about this novel, which is the characters, who were both unrealistic and dislikeable. Matt was literally the protagonist of [b:Night Film|18770398|Night Film|Marisha Pessl|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1397425352s/18770398.jpg|15182838], another book I really didn't like, and like Night Film, this book was also sexist and racist at times. As with any bad book, there were some moments and lines that I did like, but they were few and far between. I know this review is inelegantly written but I'm too sick of this book to write anything better.
This was just a damn good story, and not too far-fetched. You felt for everyone involved, even the wife laying in a coma who you never interact with, yet is the epicenter of all the drama.
Good, quick read. Sad, but sweet at the same time.
Good, quick read. Sad, but sweet at the same time.
Really great book. It's like looking up one day at your current state in life. Really taking stock of who you are, what you've become, what you've allowed to become and then trying to slowly begin to right the wrongs so that you ultimately end up in a place that's better than you even knew existed. However you had to loose something significant in the process.
A devastating, beautifully written novel about love, loss, history, and family.