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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
Did not finish. Read up to about 57%.
Wasn’t engaging, the characters were not likeable. It had an interesting premise but was so boring.
Wasn’t engaging, the characters were not likeable. It had an interesting premise but was so boring.
Great little beach read that reminds me
A bit of Celeste Ng in that it’s about a parent who overcorrects in their love for their children. And it’s consequences. It’s about how parents start their children on a journey but have very little do with their final paths and destinations. It’s also about the dark side of selfish wisdom in some ways.
A bit of Celeste Ng in that it’s about a parent who overcorrects in their love for their children. And it’s consequences. It’s about how parents start their children on a journey but have very little do with their final paths and destinations. It’s also about the dark side of selfish wisdom in some ways.
It’s not a bad book, but it also makes me question book clubs. It’s one of those books with an unlikeable main character that you find out more about as you go, their history, their loves and losses, their motivations. I just cared less and less the more I found out about Dava, and her family. I’m sick of the trope I keep reading and watching on tv that a successful, driven woman must be a bad mom or emotionally unavailable to loved ones. Just because a parent (mom or dad) misses time with their kids for work doesn’t automatically mean that they don’t have good quality time. But Dava goes out of her way to treat her family like extensions of herself.
I love complicated characters and especially women (Olive Kittridge is the perfect example) but Dava and her story is not all that unique or complicated. The author lost me when a young Dava was reading the biography of Rockefeller and said out loud I want to be the next Rockefeller, I want my name to be a legend, and my legacy to be carried on by children I didn’t particularly want to have.
I love complicated characters and especially women (Olive Kittridge is the perfect example) but Dava and her story is not all that unique or complicated. The author lost me when a young Dava was reading the biography of Rockefeller and said out loud I want to be the next Rockefeller, I want my name to be a legend, and my legacy to be carried on by children I didn’t particularly want to have.
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
I enjoyed this book and found it to be a good companion read to The Seven Husband's of Evelyn Hugo. Two very different stories of powerful famous women looking back at their lives.
Enjoyed the premise of this wealthy woman wanting to plan her own death. How her children dealt with inheritance issues, etc. a bit long for my taste.
DNF at chapter 5
maybe I found this book at the wrong time or in the wrong mood but I didn’t click with it at all. There was something about the writing style and the introduction of characters that totally turned me off the book.
Dava is a very flawed character and I’m not sure if we are meant to like her entirely but what I appreciate most is that no one is fully likeable. Everyone has their issues and baggage. Maybe Dava has more than others but it’s still a fact of life (or in this case death). I thought the characters had depth, I was invested in them and wanted to see how this last day would impact their future selves. It definitely kept my interest and was a unique take on death. It definitely makes a person think about their own mortality and the life they’ve lived. I’d definitely recommend.
It sounds more promising and compelling than it actually was.
(Full disclosure: The author is an old Emerson friend so pride is definitely influencing my review!) This moving novel is all about legacy, especially through work and children, and how much control one has in shaping what remains. Kirthana Ramisetti's extensive pop culture knowledge and previous role as an entertainment writer shine through on every page, she's especially good at details about lifestyles of the rich and famous. Additionally, I was particularly impressed that an original song she wrote for a pivotal reveal in the novel is now a real song, too. (I'm going to have to get the audio book to take a listen.) An auspicious debut for a talented voice - bravo!