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missgrangerr's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Abandonment
Moderate: Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, and Suicidal thoughts
taliatalksbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Gaslighting, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Infidelity
lisdahl's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Suicide, and Mental illness
meganpbennett's review
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Cursing, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Pregnancy, Grief, Religious bigotry, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Bullying, and Gaslighting
sinceslicedbread's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I really enjoyed all of the moving parts of this book. My only complaint is the ending. I think Sue Lynn getting pregnant was unnecessary and left a lot to be desired at the end. How would this affect the characters’ relationships?
Content Warnings
Minor: Cultural appropriation, Classism, Suicide attempt, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Drug use, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Mental illness
rstegema's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
This was a delightful and quick read! I really enjoyed the pacing the author created by sectioning off the book and the use of letters and emails intermixed with first person narrative to weave the story.
The twists and turns throughout the story were expertly placed and each added a bit of context that helped the full story unfold.
The twists and turns throughout the story were expertly placed and each added a bit of context that helped the full story unfold.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Forced institutionalization
mateoj's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I think the main selling point for this story is the way it's told partially via emails, notes, articles, etc ; I'm a sucker for that trope. Unfortunately, Where'd You Go, Bernadette falls victim to the classic pratfall of that trope, which is that the characters write unrealistically long and prosaic emails and letters in order to get the narrative across. This grated on my nerves throughout the novel, but I have to admit that it was fun to read nonetheless. The story itself... equal parts entertaining and infuriating. The only character I found remotely tolerable and redeemable was Bee; everyone else sucked, especially Bernadette herself. All I really saw in her was a very mentally ill woman who was unhealthily attached to her child and had an incredible amount of sheer dumb luck. The answer to the title question should really have been "therapy"—but rhen, of course, there would be no story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, and Alcohol
Minor: Misogyny and Rape
camiskye's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Forced institutionalization
Minor: Racism
teresareads's review
emotional
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Infidelity
Moderate: Medical content and Forced institutionalization
Minor: Drug abuse and Suicidal thoughts
nytephoenyx's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
When I started re-reading this book, all my alarms were going off. "Wait," I thought to myself. "Why did I get a physical copy of this? This is so painful." ... Then I found myself reading 50-100 pages per sitting, and I remembered. Yes, Where'd You Go, Bernadette is overhyped. And yes, the beginning is a bit painful. But Semple does such a good job of drawing her reader in, of slowly fleshing out the characters. And I really do like the end - the book gets better as you go. Even when it's a train wreck (no fault of the writing, just the story itself) it's engrossing. Three years later, my original rating of four stars still stands.
____________________
Original Review: Nov. 28, 2018 - 4 stars
This books gets an awful lot of hype. I’ve had it on hold for the audiobook at the library for almost a year, so I think it’s fair to say that a lot of people are still reading it. I was excited when this finally became available because I was dying to see what all the hype was about.
I gotta be honest, I didn’t love it?
There were moments that is was alright. I actually didn’t mind Bernadette as a character, and I thought some of her correspondences were interesting. I particularly liked the email from Bernadette to her old professor. But a lot of the rest of the stuff got me really frustrated. I’m one of those readers who doesn’t love too much drama in her books? There were scenes where characters were just angrily going off on on another which I actually found a little stressful.
So all that said – the stuff I didn’t like isn’t the type of thing that will bother most people. The characters are varied and interesting, with secrets and layers and twists in their personalities. Audrey Griffin was a bit of an unexpected character in the mix, and I ended up liking her a little bit more at the end, even though she infuriated me at the beginning. The family dynamic here – in all the families presented – was very messy and uncomfortable, and all the relationships a bit rocky. The characters kept me listening more than anything else, because you needed to know what fresh hell they were going to create next.
This book is written as a narrative by Bea, Bernadette’s daughter, and is intertwined with a bunch of letters, emails, invoices, and other paperwork that she uses as a trail to try and find her mother. The result of her doing this is a bit academically catastrophic for Bea, but it tells a good story and isn’t too interrupting. You get the impression early on that a lot of the voices coming and going will be one-offs, so it’s not too difficult to remember the real who’s who. Additionally, if you’re an audiobook person, I felt that Kathleen Wilhoite did an excellent job in her reading.
And then, after all that, I have to confess: it was a masterful ending. Most of the book felt like a complete mess, but I adored the final chapter.
The setting is immersive and the plot was a page-turner. While I didn’t fall in love with this book the way so many other people did, I can see why it’s so popular, and it’s definitely worth a read. And for those who don’t already know, there’s a film slated for early 2019 starring Cate Blanchette (who I love) so read it now before the movie comes out!
____________________
Original Review: Nov. 28, 2018 - 4 stars
This books gets an awful lot of hype. I’ve had it on hold for the audiobook at the library for almost a year, so I think it’s fair to say that a lot of people are still reading it. I was excited when this finally became available because I was dying to see what all the hype was about.
I gotta be honest, I didn’t love it?
There were moments that is was alright. I actually didn’t mind Bernadette as a character, and I thought some of her correspondences were interesting. I particularly liked the email from Bernadette to her old professor. But a lot of the rest of the stuff got me really frustrated. I’m one of those readers who doesn’t love too much drama in her books? There were scenes where characters were just angrily going off on on another which I actually found a little stressful.
So all that said – the stuff I didn’t like isn’t the type of thing that will bother most people. The characters are varied and interesting, with secrets and layers and twists in their personalities. Audrey Griffin was a bit of an unexpected character in the mix, and I ended up liking her a little bit more at the end, even though she infuriated me at the beginning. The family dynamic here – in all the families presented – was very messy and uncomfortable, and all the relationships a bit rocky. The characters kept me listening more than anything else, because you needed to know what fresh hell they were going to create next.
This book is written as a narrative by Bea, Bernadette’s daughter, and is intertwined with a bunch of letters, emails, invoices, and other paperwork that she uses as a trail to try and find her mother. The result of her doing this is a bit academically catastrophic for Bea, but it tells a good story and isn’t too interrupting. You get the impression early on that a lot of the voices coming and going will be one-offs, so it’s not too difficult to remember the real who’s who. Additionally, if you’re an audiobook person, I felt that Kathleen Wilhoite did an excellent job in her reading.
And then, after all that, I have to confess: it was a masterful ending. Most of the book felt like a complete mess, but I adored the final chapter.
The setting is immersive and the plot was a page-turner. While I didn’t fall in love with this book the way so many other people did, I can see why it’s so popular, and it’s definitely worth a read. And for those who don’t already know, there’s a film slated for early 2019 starring Cate Blanchette (who I love) so read it now before the movie comes out!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Miscarriage and Pregnancy
Minor: Forced institutionalization