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4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
Family Family is a captivating exploration of family and adoption, filled with unanswered questions and unexpected revelations!
Laurie Frankel’s "Family Family" is a heartfelt story around the complexities of family, adoption, and the profound impact of individual choices. Frankel dives into the intricacies of parent-child relationships, showcasing the challenges and the beauty that come from these connections.
What sets "Family Family" apart is its refreshing perspective on adoption. While many narratives tend to focus solely on the trauma associated with adoption, Frankel portrays the many emotions, including joy and love, that accompany the decision to give another family the gift of a child. Through the lens of one woman's journey, the novel navigates the messy terrain of familial bonds, challenging the notion that family is solely defined by blood ties.
Frankel’s writing style is engaging and authentic, drawing readers into the lives of her characters with empathy and insight. The narrative unfolds with a slight sense of humor, making it both a thought-provoking and enjoyable read. As a first-time reader of Laurie Frankel, I was thoroughly impressed by her storytelling and will certainly look for more of her work in the future.
"Family Family" resonates on a deeply human level. I highly recommend it to anyone who appreciates a well-crafted story about the complexities of family and the bonds that unite us.
Laurie Frankel’s "Family Family" is a heartfelt story around the complexities of family, adoption, and the profound impact of individual choices. Frankel dives into the intricacies of parent-child relationships, showcasing the challenges and the beauty that come from these connections.
What sets "Family Family" apart is its refreshing perspective on adoption. While many narratives tend to focus solely on the trauma associated with adoption, Frankel portrays the many emotions, including joy and love, that accompany the decision to give another family the gift of a child. Through the lens of one woman's journey, the novel navigates the messy terrain of familial bonds, challenging the notion that family is solely defined by blood ties.
Frankel’s writing style is engaging and authentic, drawing readers into the lives of her characters with empathy and insight. The narrative unfolds with a slight sense of humor, making it both a thought-provoking and enjoyable read. As a first-time reader of Laurie Frankel, I was thoroughly impressed by her storytelling and will certainly look for more of her work in the future.
"Family Family" resonates on a deeply human level. I highly recommend it to anyone who appreciates a well-crafted story about the complexities of family and the bonds that unite us.
I enjoyed this book. It was a good, interesting story. However, I thought the author tried to do way too much and then at the end of all that too much, tried to wrap all of it in a neat little bow and it just didn't seem realistic.
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
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
3.5 stars, rounded up. I have complicated feelings about this book. On the one hand, there was a lot to love… The way the book shines a light and a different perspective on adoption. The characters were quirky, unique and well-developed. The writing was heartfelt and humorous and brought you right into these characters’ lives… and yet… It seemed to drag on and on. Even when I was enjoying it, it felt like it was taking forever. (It actually did take me over a month to make it through.) I felt like it could have been edited down quite a bit. Some of the points the book was trying to make felt over explained to the point where I felt like I was being hit over the head with it, and something that I thought, “wow, that’s beautiful and profound” about the first time just grew old when it continued to go on and on to make the point.
So would I recommend the book? Yeah, probably. There was a lot to love about the story and I do think it’s worth a read. I just felt like it could have packed the same punch and been more concise if it had been edited down quite a bit. Overall though, I did enjoy it.
Thanks to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Co for the free egalley in exchange for an honest review.
So would I recommend the book? Yeah, probably. There was a lot to love about the story and I do think it’s worth a read. I just felt like it could have packed the same punch and been more concise if it had been edited down quite a bit. Overall though, I did enjoy it.
Thanks to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Co for the free egalley in exchange for an honest review.
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-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:
No
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Laurie Frankel is a favorite author of mine for a reason: she embraces important themes on family, identity, and love and runs with them in ways that resonate with me. Family Family made me feel seen as an adoptive parent who tends to hate most books that talk about adoption from a uninformed and indeed trauma only perspective. Adoption can be traumatic, of course, and no one denies that... but what Frankel is able to do is use adoption friendly language for once and gives readers a story that really embraces the idea that adoption is filled with love and hope and intentionality that matters (avoiding the "gave up for" language in lieu of how we talk to today about adoption, avoiding my hated tropes of adopted youth as experiencing enduring unresolved hardship/being serial killers. etc etc).
I hope many will read this, talk about it, listen to all of the adoption stories, seek out ways to be more or differently informed about adoption and all of the stories and perspectives involved in adoption stories, and just celebrate another powerful read from a great author. Please do read her own note to readers as well and the wonderful dedication page.
Laurie Frankel's voice, her characters, her love for her stories and her characters will also stick with me, I was a fan before this wonderful book and this book just confirms my respect for her as a writer, mother, advocate and ally, and all around kind human being.
I hope many will read this, talk about it, listen to all of the adoption stories, seek out ways to be more or differently informed about adoption and all of the stories and perspectives involved in adoption stories, and just celebrate another powerful read from a great author. Please do read her own note to readers as well and the wonderful dedication page.
Laurie Frankel's voice, her characters, her love for her stories and her characters will also stick with me, I was a fan before this wonderful book and this book just confirms my respect for her as a writer, mother, advocate and ally, and all around kind human being.
As always, I enjoyed Frankel's writing and characters. The ending was a little too wrapped up for my taste and while I appreciate what she was trying to do, it felt oversimplified.