Reviews with content warning for Gaslighting - A Very Typical Family

Not really a fan of this one. I found it more frustrating than intriguing to not know what this huge, life-altering event was until chapter five. I felt the tonal shifts were strange, going from YA/romcom to mystery to full on romance.

Like, your brother is nowhere to be found, could have relapsed and overdosed, why are you flirting with his coworker??

Conflicts seem avoidable and easily remedied and therefore not very relatable at best and extremely frustrating at worst. It feels like watching an episode of Dora and being like “It’s right behind you! Just look!”

Like she gets a free ticket to the gala but is like ‘oh no what ever will I wear’ - girlie, you JUST got paid for your illustration work and your best friend owns a high end boutique like be fr. Or when she keeps contemplating going back to Boston where there’s NO REASON to go back there!!!! She has a dream job offer, better man and better/more friends in California, what is the cause for such hesitation and dedication to Massachusetts?

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syazahaniss's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

1.0

I finished this book but until now I have no idea what the point of the story is.

This book had a lot of potential but the execution was so bad. How was I still waiting for something to happen at 90%??? I genuinely didn’t know what was going on the entire time.

Natalie was so annoying making her putting her siblings in prison all those years ago her entire personality. And speaking of, I personally feel that their reason for ending up in jail wasn’t that substantial? But then again I’ve never been to jail so.

The conflicts were so lame and trivial too. I think they would have added more value and substance to the story if the author had expanded on them a bit more. On top of that, the conflict resolution aspect was altogether too convenient – there was barely any effort on Natalie’s part and everything seemed to unrealistically fall from the sky for her.

Some of the details of the story were repeated a few times too (for example Ashier with the gala, Dr Berkhower with the degree require for the illustration job), which made me think that the author forgot what she had and had not mentioned.

Overall a disappointment.

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marieeveparentroy's review against another edition

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challenging emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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the_true_monroe's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was a very fast paced book focused largely on healing and moving forward on an individual level (from the perspective of the narrator) and on a family level. I enjoyed it a lot with my favorite character being the cat.

There was one prevalent issue that has my rating at a 4 star and it is something that I noticed originally from another review when I was earlier in the book- but it would have become apparent on my own. Over 15 years ago Natalie’s siblings Lynn and Jake were sentenced to jail time as a result of illicit drug use which resulted in the death of their close friend. Natalie had been the person who called the cops both out of anger but also since Lynn really did hurt herself. The friend took his own life after realizing the cops were called.

Below this point has some minor spoilers.

Natalie is blamed for ALL of it. Even her mom does not talk to her for those 15 years, and her mom’s death is what leads to the premise of the book as she wants to bring the three siblings back together. Those sympathetic to her mention it having been an “honest mistake”. Everything is about forgiving Natalie, not addressing that even though she “rat” them out that she did not set them up for anything- they were adults who honestly had Natalie in a dangerous situation. Lynn and Jake later react incredulously when Natalie did not call the cops during a time when it was absolutely critical to, due to all of that trauma of last time she called.

While that did bother me, I really enjoyed the combination of drama, romance, nerdiness and a bit of mystery. It was a great read.

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jg34's review against another edition

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

2.0

It was an ok story but I couldn’t get past the main conflict. I get that drug and crime issues in general are not just black and white and right and wrong and perhaps it was a brash decision but the whole “it’s all Natalie’s fault” thing doesn’t work for me.

the fact that still after 15 years Jake and Lynn don’t take responsibilities for their own actions is mind boggling. I get them being mad while they are young and maybe even though out their sentence but to hold a grudge for that long??? Like the fact that they were actively engaging in illegal activities is definitely not at all the reason they were sent to prison? I guess it gets complicated with Carlos and I understand some guilt around that but everyone is at fault for that, not just Natalie. How would she know that he would do what he did. And she didn’t even really call the cops because of the drugs she called because her sister was hurt and her brother was too lit to do anything to help. They never in 15 years considered how scary that was for Natalie? Or the fact that she was basically still a child???????? That would be so traumatizing to see your siblings doing heroin and then all the aftermath on top of it! Idk it doesn’t track for me even the mom basically exiling her. Natalie took way too much shit for one “mistake” if you can even call it one.

really ruined the book for me I kept waiting for a proper reconciliation but I didn’t think it was good enough

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knunderb's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I enjoyed this book! The premise was interesting, and I liked the characters. <Spoiler> I got a little tired of Natalie's refusal to consider the possibility of staying in Santa Cruz. And, I think it would have been a more interesting story had Natalie realized that she doesn't need a man at all, rather than needing Asier to understand that Paul was a dick.

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skyisblue's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful reflective relaxing fast-paced

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

3.75

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erebus53's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad 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? Yes

4.25

I picked up this one as a Big Library Read book. Libby sets things up so there are unlimited library eCopies of the book to download digitally (including Audiobook versions). Looking at the cover I presumed it might be pretty corny, but I was pleasantly surprised.

I was surprised to find myself as the target audience. The main character is a woman who has been settling for much of her life and has never chased up on her passion projects. She has allowed her partner to belittle her efforts and has fallen into a rut where it is normal for him to be the controlling partner in her life. When 2 life changing influences coincidentally shake her life up, she is given the headspace to reassess what she is doing with her life.

The main character is someone who is interested in drawing biological specimens. I vibed with her whole habit of finding cool minibeasts or bits of broken animal and wanting to keep records of them. FOR SCIENCE! I deeply identified with the feeling of having others disgusted by the objects of your fascination, wanting to get pictures of dead birds' feet, and also the problem of having baby mantises accidentally hatch in your bedroom.. or.. all over your bedroom.

This is also a story of family reconciliation. Getting an estranged family back together again as part of a family bequest makes this an inheritance story with some cool twists. It's got a lot more trauma than I was expecting. The sister is a kick-ass goth who is a trained mortician. I think I can see a theme in the way this family works.

Didn't really expect it to be so focused on romance though. I found the development of friendships and relationships in the story so captivating that I forgot to stop the book.. and then found I had oopsed a 1-day-read. Uhm.. yes I quite liked this one.

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