Reviews with content warning for Infidelity - Where'd You Go, Bernadette

Where’s You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple was far more enjoyable than I expected it to be. I think it wove together perfectly. Even though there are gaps in the narrative, it flows seamlessly, and as everything unfolds so does the reader’s understanding of characters, motivations, and intentions. This book took turns I wasn’t expecting, and though it didn’t get an audible gasp, it did get a solid “oh damn!” If you’re looking for an enjoyable, contemporary adventure, check out this book.

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aus10england's review against another edition

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funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.25

Absolutely infuriating read. Idk if I have liked characters less. Especially the daughter, oh my goddddd. A lot of things didn’t work for me; the religious themes, the pacing, the open ended ending, it just wasn’t it. Picked this up being a Seattle resident, excited to pick up on the local references, and the author spent most of the book dunking on the city which like ??? okay, don’t set your book here if you hate it. Also I really just didn’t care about these rich people’s problems. I did laugh out loud in a few random parts, a few gasps for some mystery reveals, but overall, I regret picking this up.

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lisdahl's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

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meganpbennett's review

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Where'd You Go, Bernadette? is a book that's incredibly hard to rate. It's... a mediocre book about a family you hate from the get go. Bee, the daughter, is not a nice person, and it shows throughout the entire story. Bernadette herself suffers from a horrific experience while trying to build the Twenty Mile House, one which people told her to dust herself off and get back on the horse, all the while ignoring what happened. Then she moved to Seattle, and wasted away in a house that was literally falling apart around her ears. The sort of falling apart where it's a miracle social services hasn't been called.

The novel isn't exactly as described, since a third of the story takes part before the family trip to Antarctica, and it's a little hard to follow, at first, since it's only later revealed that it's Bee creating the story from a dossier she received about the few weeks before Bernadette disappears, causing the perspective to drastically change and the reliability of the narrator to shift from 'unreliable' to 'complete fiction'.

However, that's what makes this book work, and the fact that we lose that shifting, epistolary story exactly when Bernadette disappears, thoroughly weakening the last 50-100 pages, and causing it to lose a star.

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violet_reads's review

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challenging emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

At first I really didn't care for Bernadette but as the story went on and more was said about her husband I ended up really caring about everything Bernadette was going through. It was frustrating too, that no one seemed to be able to or want to actually help her and when I say no one I mean Elgie, her husband. He just wants her to be better and not cause him stress and I don't think he actually wanted to help help her. Wow did I have some feelings during her intervention. I had to keep taking breaks, the situation was making me so angry. I did enjoy the story overall and the way the author presented the story, with emails and letters.

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