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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
Wow- I went into this book not knowing much about it and I wish I could go back and read it for the first time again. I was mesmerized by the story-telling. (And Julia Whelan's performance of the audiobook.) Other things I liked about this book: interesting side characters, references to pretty current stuff/pop culture (Bridgerton, ha!), the connection I have to the mc and her job as a journalist, the idea that when we are gone, someone is going to have to deal with our stuff. Plus, I loved the setting ... the small town just felt like a big hug. Bonus points for just wanting to hang out with Laurie and her friends! 5 stars
2.5 it was ok…
I loved the parts about finding out the mystery and learning about dots life. Everything else was blah. A lot of extra characters that didn’t matter.
I loved the parts about finding out the mystery and learning about dots life. Everything else was blah. A lot of extra characters that didn’t matter.
3.5 stars. I enjoyed many of the characters and storylines but not thrilled with the last few chapters. I agree when June called Laurie “exhausting “ for how she was handling the situation.
So much fun to read. Nice and quirky and unconventional characters and even some mysteries thrown in.
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
This author’s debut, Evvie Drake Starts Over (set in the same small Maine town), was a real winner for me. Unfortunately this second effort, not so much.
Laurie, a single Seattle journalist on the cusp of 40 (she is overly obsessed with this number), is tasked with returning to her hometown to clean out her beloved late aunt’s house. She reconnects with her bf June and first love Nick who is now a librarian. She discovers a hidden wooden duck decoy in a chest, and they set out to solve the mystery of why it meant so much to her carefree, adventurous aunt.
I liked the witty banter between characters, and the writing itself was fine. I did feel the duck “mystery” was too overdone/predominant and not as interesting as I had hoped when resolved, with the romance not center stage.
While I did enjoy Nick and June as characters, I did not like Laurie. I appreciate and applaud that Holmes was making a point through Laurie’s independent nature that women do not have to marry and birth babies to be “normal”, fulfilled and happy. However, Laurie came across as selfish and too rigid and at times as if she were trying to convince herself that she was right. While I wasn’t necessarily expecting her to change, she also experienced no growth arc at all which was rather a letdown for me. She seemed “stuck”.
I ended up seeing her as a bit of a “user”, and I had a hard time with her wishy-washiness in her relationship (both past and present) with Nick. And by the end, she just came off to me as wanting what she wanted with not much wiggle room for others in her life. I rate this as an OK read but not really up to what I had hoped.
My thanks to NetGalley, Random House and Ballantine Books for providing the free early arc of Flying Solo for review. The opinions are strictly my own.
Laurie, a single Seattle journalist on the cusp of 40 (she is overly obsessed with this number), is tasked with returning to her hometown to clean out her beloved late aunt’s house. She reconnects with her bf June and first love Nick who is now a librarian. She discovers a hidden wooden duck decoy in a chest, and they set out to solve the mystery of why it meant so much to her carefree, adventurous aunt.
I liked the witty banter between characters, and the writing itself was fine. I did feel the duck “mystery” was too overdone/predominant and not as interesting as I had hoped when resolved, with the romance not center stage.
While I did enjoy Nick and June as characters, I did not like Laurie. I appreciate and applaud that Holmes was making a point through Laurie’s independent nature that women do not have to marry and birth babies to be “normal”, fulfilled and happy. However, Laurie came across as selfish and too rigid and at times as if she were trying to convince herself that she was right. While I wasn’t necessarily expecting her to change, she also experienced no growth arc at all which was rather a letdown for me. She seemed “stuck”.
I ended up seeing her as a bit of a “user”, and I had a hard time with her wishy-washiness in her relationship (both past and present) with Nick. And by the end, she just came off to me as wanting what she wanted with not much wiggle room for others in her life. I rate this as an OK read but not really up to what I had hoped.
My thanks to NetGalley, Random House and Ballantine Books for providing the free early arc of Flying Solo for review. The opinions are strictly my own.
There was nothing particularly bad about this but it was just really really really boring. It lacked everything—excitement, tension, chemistry, interest (mine)
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced