Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
Story premise is promising, but I couldn’t get past the writing. Not my cup of tea. Returned it to the library in favor of other books waiting to be read.
I'm always a sucker for a dysfunctional family book and this one was a good read. Having a Jewish husband all the references to that facet of the Feldman's life made me nod or chuckle quite a few times. I guess I was a bit turned off because they all had so many issues and were hiding so many things, and the ending a little too pat but I still enjoyed it over all.
This multi generation family drama had a lot of drama. I was distracted by the assumptions and judgments made by the three main Feldmans, the lack of self-awareness was off putting. The writing was clean and entertaining, the narration was good.
I need this book, it gave me a reason to giggle. Annette’s 70th birthday has her wanting to rekindle relationships with her family so she books a family cruise, but with each member hiding their own secrets, a boat in the middle of the ocean is the last place they want to be. We bop around perspectives from our cruise goers and one of the cruise directors, giving readers a well rounded understanding of what is going on both on the ship surface as well as beneath deck (get it?). Sibling rivalries, illness, addiction, affairs, and more — I was captivated by the drama as I waited for things to bubble up. I laughed, I sympathized, and I related to some of the random challenges as the family tries to find their groove while stuck out on the ocean with no escape. In tangent with our family storylines we get a snippet of the cruise director’s life story, it didn’t quite fit in as well, but his observations of the family as an outsider were certainly helpful. A lovely, light, silly, read that is sure to leave you smiling!
Begging authors to stop using pregnancy as a surprise “happy ending” to a book.
Get ready for Jewish family guilt aplenty with Elyssa Friedland's The Floating Feldmans, which, overall, is a fun and goofy look at family dynamics and relationships very much fixed in the modern age. Family matriarch Annette Feldman is about to turn 70. Her husband, David, is a retired, successful doctor who just received a cancer diagnosis. In light of this, and desperate to reunite her somewhat estranged family (consisting of her son Freddy, Freddy's young girlfriend Natasha, her daughter Elise and Elise's husband Mitch and kids Darius and Rachel), Annette books them all on an ocean cruise so they will be isolated and forced to communicate with each other. Sound like a recipe for family disaster and strife? Ummm, yeah. It somewhat is... but along the way, and despite their differences and the secrets they keep - and subsequently, reveal (no big surprise there) - to each other, the family learns to live and let live and just find a way to love one another again.
I enjoyed Friedland's writing, for the most part, and this was a light, fun read. She clearly sets up each character - their flaws and foibles, their eccentricties and backgrounds - and keeps it pretty consistent throughout. As a counter to the Feldman family, she even tosses in the gay master of ceremonies on the cruise ship, Julian, and poses his observations on the Feldman shenanigans. The only problem I frequently had with this book was that, in moments when the narrative had the potential to plug away in an interesting direction, it was very often derailed by the main character in the chapter going off on a tangent and getting intensely contemplative about a past situation in his or her life, almost as the rationale or explanatory device for why they were behaving as they currently were in the present moment, in response to the situation. It would often take a while to get back to what was actually happening. By then, as a reader, you had almost forgotten what was going on. It was a narrative device that was okay, occasionally, then grew tiresome. Nevertheless, if you enjoy lightly humorous stories about dysfunctional families, dive in - this is a good book for you. Just be wary of those onboard all-you-can-eat buffets.
I enjoyed Friedland's writing, for the most part, and this was a light, fun read. She clearly sets up each character - their flaws and foibles, their eccentricties and backgrounds - and keeps it pretty consistent throughout. As a counter to the Feldman family, she even tosses in the gay master of ceremonies on the cruise ship, Julian, and poses his observations on the Feldman shenanigans. The only problem I frequently had with this book was that, in moments when the narrative had the potential to plug away in an interesting direction, it was very often derailed by the main character in the chapter going off on a tangent and getting intensely contemplative about a past situation in his or her life, almost as the rationale or explanatory device for why they were behaving as they currently were in the present moment, in response to the situation. It would often take a while to get back to what was actually happening. By then, as a reader, you had almost forgotten what was going on. It was a narrative device that was okay, occasionally, then grew tiresome. Nevertheless, if you enjoy lightly humorous stories about dysfunctional families, dive in - this is a good book for you. Just be wary of those onboard all-you-can-eat buffets.
I have a weakness for books about wholly unlikable, privileged families. Meet the Feldmans, the latest installment in this genre. Annette Feldman is turning 70 and decides to take her entire family on a cruise to celebrate. This includes her husband David, her ne’er do well son Freddy and his much-younger girlfriend, her never-good-enough-daughter Elise, her husband Mitch, and their two crummy teenagers. Every person has a secret that could RUIN EVERYTHING but not really. There’s also a vague subplot about the Cruise Director which doesn’t seem to go anywhere.
Three stars, and did you know that babies fix everything and if you’re not a parent you’ve never understood the true meaning of anything? Also, cruises can be fun.
Three stars, and did you know that babies fix everything and if you’re not a parent you’ve never understood the true meaning of anything? Also, cruises can be fun.
I enjoyed this book that combined two of my favorite things, family and cruising. Annette wants her whole family together for her 70th birthday, and being on a cruise ship would force them to be together. Elise and Mitch, with their children Rachel and Darius, as well as Elise’s brother Freddy and his girlfriend Natasha, all have secrets they are keeping from each other. On the ship, there is much to laugh at, although many stereotypes about cruises are a bit exaggerated. Told with humor and much love, I recommend this book.
Elyssa Friedland has constructed a clever and compelling story. An evocative family drama filled with tension, secrets and a splash of humor. The setting of the cruise ship added even more to the claustrophobic feel of the story. Imagine three generations of a dysfunctional family confined to a cruise ship. Meet the Feldmans.... Annette thought it would be a good idea to bring the family together for her 70th birthday. Her two children, their significant others, and her grandchildren. Sounds like a great idea, doesn’t it?
This was such an engaging story, that kept my amateur therapist invested throughout. We got The point of view of all the characters and this made us privy to a lot of secrets. Some characters I connected with more than others and some characters I liked more than others. I thought the dynamics between the siblings, and parents and children were spot on. I am part of that sandwich generation, both my parents and my children are getting older. As time consuming and challenging as it is to parent little kids, it is so much trickier when they become adults. I kept waiting for everything to hit the fan in this book, and when it did oh boy! All I’m going to say is Baked Alaska! This was such a relatable story infused with heart and humor. The perfect book to add to your summer reading list!
This was such an engaging story, that kept my amateur therapist invested throughout. We got The point of view of all the characters and this made us privy to a lot of secrets. Some characters I connected with more than others and some characters I liked more than others. I thought the dynamics between the siblings, and parents and children were spot on. I am part of that sandwich generation, both my parents and my children are getting older. As time consuming and challenging as it is to parent little kids, it is so much trickier when they become adults. I kept waiting for everything to hit the fan in this book, and when it did oh boy! All I’m going to say is Baked Alaska! This was such a relatable story infused with heart and humor. The perfect book to add to your summer reading list!
The writing style made conversations hard to follow. Someone would say something and then there would be paragraphs between the next character speaking. I also found this entire family completely ridiculous (probably the point, but they bothered me) and the ending was too neat and tidy for how messy the family was at the beginning.