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4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
I’m not sure why this year I seem to reading a lot of motherhood/adoption books which while makes for interesting reads, perhaps gets a little tiresome. That said, I did enjoy this book which details the life of India Allwood as she grows up, falls in love, pursues her dreams of acting and has a couple more adventures.
The greater themes of family and relationship building are interesting and thinking about all the different family dynamics is fascinating, if a little headache inducing. This book felt a little too hokey at times with some of the characters but it was enjoyable
The greater themes of family and relationship building are interesting and thinking about all the different family dynamics is fascinating, if a little headache inducing. This book felt a little too hokey at times with some of the characters but it was enjoyable
I loved Laurie Frankel's book This Is How I Always Is: A Novel, so I was excited to see she had a new book out, Family Family. What a romp. It's a timely book about complicated family relationships and how families are created with the option of adoption at its center. It's funny and well written. I listened to this and thought the narrator was great.
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I loved the story, the characters, and the humor worked in.
Laurie Frankel is not for everyone, but she is absolutely for me. Her writing style continues to transfix me and I love the way she strings fully developed characters with rich back stories together. Emotion hums through this book from start to finish.
I loved all the theater references in this novel: The protagonist India Allwood is a famous TV actor (and, crucially, an adoptive partner who also became pregnant and placed a baby up for adoption at 16) with a past as a classical theater actor.
She's also incredibly and annoyingly entitled and impulsive. I was intrigued initially by the book, then I was utterly flabbergasted by a major plot twist. In present day, she's a caring mother, but she also still always acts on impulse. While in a way India's faith that she would just always be able to figure things out and that they would work in her favor was nicely optimistic, it was also wildly unrealistic. Also despite the fact that Laurie Frankel seems to emphasize in the text that life and family are messy, the book is tied up with a neat little bow.
This is an interesting character study, but it's supremely implausible, and like I often complain, too long for what it is. I love good references to Ibsen and Guys and Dolls, but ultimately India's love of theater doesn't make this altogether a good novel.
She's also incredibly and annoyingly entitled and impulsive. I was intrigued initially by the book, then I was utterly flabbergasted by a major plot twist. In present day, she's a caring mother, but she also still always acts on impulse.
Spoiler
Also, why in the world does Frankel include not just one, but TWO, teenage pregnancies for India in this novel? India really needed to educate herself better about birth control...she also seemed kind of flippant honestly when she decided to place both babies for adoption.This is an interesting character study, but it's supremely implausible, and like I often complain, too long for what it is. I love good references to Ibsen and Guys and Dolls, but ultimately India's love of theater doesn't make this altogether a good novel.
I am so disappointed as I love Frankel’s novels. This one, unfortunately, ended up in the DNF pile. I loved the novels present day chapters, but had no patience for the chapters about India’s life supposedly setting the stage for what is happening in the present.
I loved this book. It is a little sappy, but sweet and funny and a special tale of a family coming together. It is the author's agenda to push a happy ending adoption story, and she does a great job.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated