You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.44 AVERAGE
3.44 AVERAGE
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Thank you Ecco Books and BiblioLifestyle for the gifted copy of How Does That Make You Feel, Magda Eklund? All opinions in this review are my own.
I wanted to read this book because while it primarily deals with grief, it is also a story about friendship and travel. Once Magda starts on her road trip that her best friend planned for them before she died, the story picks up and I like how the author included letters from Sara in between to explain why she wanted to go to these places. My only complaint is that it takes about 50 pages for Magda to get started and since it is a book on the shorter side, it felt like it took awhile to get going. However, once it does, it is a sweet story about friendship and discovering yourself!
hopeful
reflective
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
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I continue to see and enjoy stories with older protagonists, and here is one from @libro.fm #partner, 𝑯𝑶𝑾 𝑫𝑶𝑬𝑺 𝑻𝑯𝑨𝑻 𝑴𝑨𝑲𝑬 𝒀𝑶𝑼 𝑭𝑬𝑬𝑳, 𝑴𝑨𝑮𝑫𝑨 𝑬𝑲𝑳𝑼𝑵𝑫? 𝒃𝒚 𝑨𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝑴𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒖𝒆 and narrated by the one and only, Cynthia Nixon.
I will admit, I had high expectations with this one. Magda seems like that “typical” gruff character who
is about to find a softer part of herself through her grief journey that becomes a literal road trip with her
friend’s ashes. This does happen, as well as a coming-to-peace with herself and her sexuality.
I really wanted to like this one more. I think when I see a cartoon cover, I expect more humor. There is definitely some of that (and several great characters), but for some reason it just fell a bit flat for me.
What I am really loving, however, is the recurring theme with all of these stories that our lives are not over at any certain age. We can, and should, continue to grow and experience all the parts of life that make us human; mainly valuable relationships.
As I write this, I think I have an inkling of what is hard for me with several of these stories (at least lately):
they seem to center around finding another love. While I do think that this is a lovely idea that absolutely is worthy, I think I prefer to see stories that prioritize friendships or a sense of completeness without a partner. Plus, I just don’t love romance, so there’s that!
I think most people will enjoy this older coming-of-age story as least as much as I did, and probably more. I think I am in a curmudgenly mood, so give this a try if it sounds like a fun one!
I will admit, I had high expectations with this one. Magda seems like that “typical” gruff character who
is about to find a softer part of herself through her grief journey that becomes a literal road trip with her
friend’s ashes. This does happen, as well as a coming-to-peace with herself and her sexuality.
I really wanted to like this one more. I think when I see a cartoon cover, I expect more humor. There is definitely some of that (and several great characters), but for some reason it just fell a bit flat for me.
What I am really loving, however, is the recurring theme with all of these stories that our lives are not over at any certain age. We can, and should, continue to grow and experience all the parts of life that make us human; mainly valuable relationships.
As I write this, I think I have an inkling of what is hard for me with several of these stories (at least lately):
they seem to center around finding another love. While I do think that this is a lovely idea that absolutely is worthy, I think I prefer to see stories that prioritize friendships or a sense of completeness without a partner. Plus, I just don’t love romance, so there’s that!
I think most people will enjoy this older coming-of-age story as least as much as I did, and probably more. I think I am in a curmudgenly mood, so give this a try if it sounds like a fun one!
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
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
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
What exists between what is and what isn’t
Therapist Magda Eklund is nearing her 70th birthday and despite the concern of her friends and colleagues Boomer and Theo insists that she is fine. Really. Okay, maybe she still deals with some anxiety after the events of 9/11 and has refused to step on a plane ever since, but she is living her life. She works with her patients and helps them deal with their anxieties and assorted other problems, and while she still mourns the recent loss of her closest friend Sara she is making every effort to be helpful to Sara’s husband Fred, with whom she’s never gotten along. It’s only natural that she feels lonely and a bit adrift; she and Sara did everything together….movies, food, even travel….and it was Sara who always planned Magda’s birthday parties. When Boomer and Theo host a small birthday dinner for Magda and Fred shows up not only late but with his (surprise!) new girlfriend, its more than she can take. Amongst those of Sara’s possessions that Fred has been unloading upon Magda is her journal, and in it Sara was making plans for a road trip that she and Magda were to make together. Their friendship had been strained in the period before Sara’s sudden passing, and Magda thinks that maybe making that trip herself (with the urn containing Sara’s ashes along for the ride) would be a way to reach a measure of reconciliation. For someone whose profession is helping others to reveal those things they’ve hidden from themselves and/or the world, it seems that Magda has repressed a great deal of herself throughout her life…but maybe there is still time to acknowledge truths that she has avoided and in doing so start a new chapter in her life.
Friendship between women is a very tricky thing, and as the opening quote from author Patricia Highsmith says, “…friendships are the result of certain needs that can be completely hidden from both people.” Magda and Sara needed things from one another that they couldn’t, or didn’t dare, seek elsewhere. Growing up in a very strict family with Old World values, Magda wanted and felt things that her parents (in particular her mother) could not tolerate, and given the times in which she grew up it was easier for her to just not deal with those feelings. She left her midwestern home and made a career in NYC, yet still what she wanted most always seemed just out of her reach. Sara’s marriage was not what she hoped it would be but she was determined to make it at least look like she was happy, even though she never had the children she so desperately wanted and her husband’s flaws wounded her deeply. A trip the two women took to Boston changed their friendship, and Sara would die before the two could get it back on course. As Magda slowly reveals the dynamics in their relationship and her true feelings for Sara, the reader also sees the letters that Sara wrote to Magda when off travelling with Fred, which help explain just why Magda didn’t like him very much. There are so many quirky and endearing characters sprinkled throughout the book, and both Magda and Sara are very relatable. I felt that the book started out very slowly and my attention would wander a bit, but my growing fondness for Magda and my desire to see just what caused their friendship to fray kept me going. There are questions of sexuality and identity, the boundaries between friendship and marriage that must be navigated, and the role that family plays in each person’s life at the root of the story. I found it more melancholic with occasional bursts of humor than an overall funny story, but others might see it differently. The slow pacing lessened my enjoyment of the story, but the characters who inhabited the pages helped make up for that to a degree. Readers of Elizabeth Berg, Jacquelyn Mitchard and Elinor Lipman might find this novel to their liking. My thanks to NetGalley and Ecco Press for allowing me access to an early copy of this novel of loss and hope.
Therapist Magda Eklund is nearing her 70th birthday and despite the concern of her friends and colleagues Boomer and Theo insists that she is fine. Really. Okay, maybe she still deals with some anxiety after the events of 9/11 and has refused to step on a plane ever since, but she is living her life. She works with her patients and helps them deal with their anxieties and assorted other problems, and while she still mourns the recent loss of her closest friend Sara she is making every effort to be helpful to Sara’s husband Fred, with whom she’s never gotten along. It’s only natural that she feels lonely and a bit adrift; she and Sara did everything together….movies, food, even travel….and it was Sara who always planned Magda’s birthday parties. When Boomer and Theo host a small birthday dinner for Magda and Fred shows up not only late but with his (surprise!) new girlfriend, its more than she can take. Amongst those of Sara’s possessions that Fred has been unloading upon Magda is her journal, and in it Sara was making plans for a road trip that she and Magda were to make together. Their friendship had been strained in the period before Sara’s sudden passing, and Magda thinks that maybe making that trip herself (with the urn containing Sara’s ashes along for the ride) would be a way to reach a measure of reconciliation. For someone whose profession is helping others to reveal those things they’ve hidden from themselves and/or the world, it seems that Magda has repressed a great deal of herself throughout her life…but maybe there is still time to acknowledge truths that she has avoided and in doing so start a new chapter in her life.
Friendship between women is a very tricky thing, and as the opening quote from author Patricia Highsmith says, “…friendships are the result of certain needs that can be completely hidden from both people.” Magda and Sara needed things from one another that they couldn’t, or didn’t dare, seek elsewhere. Growing up in a very strict family with Old World values, Magda wanted and felt things that her parents (in particular her mother) could not tolerate, and given the times in which she grew up it was easier for her to just not deal with those feelings. She left her midwestern home and made a career in NYC, yet still what she wanted most always seemed just out of her reach. Sara’s marriage was not what she hoped it would be but she was determined to make it at least look like she was happy, even though she never had the children she so desperately wanted and her husband’s flaws wounded her deeply. A trip the two women took to Boston changed their friendship, and Sara would die before the two could get it back on course. As Magda slowly reveals the dynamics in their relationship and her true feelings for Sara, the reader also sees the letters that Sara wrote to Magda when off travelling with Fred, which help explain just why Magda didn’t like him very much. There are so many quirky and endearing characters sprinkled throughout the book, and both Magda and Sara are very relatable. I felt that the book started out very slowly and my attention would wander a bit, but my growing fondness for Magda and my desire to see just what caused their friendship to fray kept me going. There are questions of sexuality and identity, the boundaries between friendship and marriage that must be navigated, and the role that family plays in each person’s life at the root of the story. I found it more melancholic with occasional bursts of humor than an overall funny story, but others might see it differently. The slow pacing lessened my enjoyment of the story, but the characters who inhabited the pages helped make up for that to a degree. Readers of Elizabeth Berg, Jacquelyn Mitchard and Elinor Lipman might find this novel to their liking. My thanks to NetGalley and Ecco Press for allowing me access to an early copy of this novel of loss and hope.