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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
4.25
Mrs. Everything is a beautiful book that is deeply moving. Starting in 1950, we are taken on the journey of sisters Jo and Bethie as they navigate their way in the world. Through the decades, we see how each is impacted by the times in terms of women’s place in society, racial and gay rights, religion and politics ending in 2016 with the candidacy of Hilary Clinton. The choices made by each sister impact the other and draw them both apart and together over the years. The importance of love and having the opportunity to choose who you love is a theme throughout. This book shows how life and love is complicated, messy and difficult. An emotional read.
Mrs. Everything is a beautiful book that is deeply moving. Starting in 1950, we are taken on the journey of sisters Jo and Bethie as they navigate their way in the world. Through the decades, we see how each is impacted by the times in terms of women’s place in society, racial and gay rights, religion and politics ending in 2016 with the candidacy of Hilary Clinton. The choices made by each sister impact the other and draw them both apart and together over the years. The importance of love and having the opportunity to choose who you love is a theme throughout. This book shows how life and love is complicated, messy and difficult. An emotional read.
I’ve never read from this author but I’ve seen her books everywhere for years. I chose this book because of its setting, being a big fan of the 60s and 70s. The 2 protagonists are interested but, dear god, this is almost 100% torture porn. How many stereotypes and fictional tropes can one story use? The answer is a fricking lot.
I can also appreciate the attempts at representation but it could have been done with more thought and research. Jo and Bethie just went through too much.
I can also appreciate the attempts at representation but it could have been done with more thought and research. Jo and Bethie just went through too much.
emotional
reflective
medium-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
A poignant look at the roles women have in society. Great character development through a unique format covering the two sisters entire lives. Moving and thought provoking. The pacing in the second half of the book was a little off and it seemed to try to cram too much in loosing it a few points
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Abortion
Trigger warning: Rape
Wow. So this was good. I think that some parts were a bit too long, but I can't really complain about that when I think that Weiner did such a great job with character development along and weaving all of the plot elements together. Weiner also includes certain pop culture and historical incidents (the Kennedy assassination, student protests, war in Vietnam, the me too movement, and even Hillary Clinton running for President of the United States) that are not front and center to the story, but still intriguing to read about with these characters. I of course ended up liking one character more than the other (can't help it, this is the way it goes with dual POVs) but I still really enjoyed the other character too. I just wanted this story to go on for much longer after I got to the end which is a mark of a great book to me.
In "Mrs. Everything" the book starts off in the 2000s with a woman named Jo getting news and wondering how to break it to her family. From there we jump backwards to Jo as a young girl and wondering why her family moved from where they lived to another neighborhood in Michigan. We quickly find out that Jo tries very hard to be good for her mother, but always seems to get things wrong. She loves her father and with him she feels as if it's okay if she's not the perfect little girl that her mother wants. Weiner then shows us Bethie (younger sister of Jo) who loves her mother and is very much a great helper to her mother and grandmother. She loves all of the things her sister seems to hate. She does love her sister though and especially the stories that she tells her. Weiner juggles both POVs throughout the book and we follow Jo and Bethie from the 1950s to 2022.
I really liked Jo's storyline the best I think. We have a young girl realizing that she's not like other girls and struggling with that. When we have Jo realizing that her not being like others can mean that her family and life will be harder, we get to see her struggle with making choices that I don't know if I could have been able to do. Jo also is noticing the racial issues that are propping up in the country and how it's not fair that girls she plays sports with in high school can't even sit with her at lunch. Jo has a need to do what's right, but we see her start to lose herself again and again after she deals with romantic disappointments.
Bethie had a more uneven story-line to me though it still works in the end. We get to see what incident in her youth ends up shaping her future. And we get to see her initial dreams change from when she was young (she was a great actor and singer) to her her floundering a lot when she's an adult with her chasing the overwhelming need to be safe.
The secondary characters in this book shine too. We have Jo and Bethie's parents, Jo and Bethie's love interests, friends, and family. I don't want to spoil too much here, but I thought it was great to see the two women go from being close, to slightly estranged, and back again. We get to see the ups and downs of their relationship and how much they love each other.
The book takes place in Detroit, Michigan mostly with some of the story moving to New York and Atlanta. The first parts of the story shows both characters dealing with growing up in Detroit and then later on attending the University of Michigan. From there though we have them moving around and landing on the east coast/south. I think a setting of a book is just as important as the characters and thought that Weiner did a great job of setting the mood so to speak with location changes and providing enough details to make you feel as if you are there too.
The ending I thought was very bittersweet. We get to see another family go on and know that through ups and downs they will be there for each other.
Wow. So this was good. I think that some parts were a bit too long, but I can't really complain about that when I think that Weiner did such a great job with character development along and weaving all of the plot elements together. Weiner also includes certain pop culture and historical incidents (the Kennedy assassination, student protests, war in Vietnam, the me too movement, and even Hillary Clinton running for President of the United States) that are not front and center to the story, but still intriguing to read about with these characters. I of course ended up liking one character more than the other (can't help it, this is the way it goes with dual POVs) but I still really enjoyed the other character too. I just wanted this story to go on for much longer after I got to the end which is a mark of a great book to me.
In "Mrs. Everything" the book starts off in the 2000s with a woman named Jo getting news and wondering how to break it to her family. From there we jump backwards to Jo as a young girl and wondering why her family moved from where they lived to another neighborhood in Michigan. We quickly find out that Jo tries very hard to be good for her mother, but always seems to get things wrong. She loves her father and with him she feels as if it's okay if she's not the perfect little girl that her mother wants. Weiner then shows us Bethie (younger sister of Jo) who loves her mother and is very much a great helper to her mother and grandmother. She loves all of the things her sister seems to hate. She does love her sister though and especially the stories that she tells her. Weiner juggles both POVs throughout the book and we follow Jo and Bethie from the 1950s to 2022.
I really liked Jo's storyline the best I think. We have a young girl realizing that she's not like other girls and struggling with that. When we have Jo realizing that her not being like others can mean that her family and life will be harder, we get to see her struggle with making choices that I don't know if I could have been able to do. Jo also is noticing the racial issues that are propping up in the country and how it's not fair that girls she plays sports with in high school can't even sit with her at lunch. Jo has a need to do what's right, but we see her start to lose herself again and again after she deals with romantic disappointments.
Bethie had a more uneven story-line to me though it still works in the end. We get to see what incident in her youth ends up shaping her future. And we get to see her initial dreams change from when she was young (she was a great actor and singer) to her her floundering a lot when she's an adult with her chasing the overwhelming need to be safe.
The secondary characters in this book shine too. We have Jo and Bethie's parents, Jo and Bethie's love interests, friends, and family. I don't want to spoil too much here, but I thought it was great to see the two women go from being close, to slightly estranged, and back again. We get to see the ups and downs of their relationship and how much they love each other.
The book takes place in Detroit, Michigan mostly with some of the story moving to New York and Atlanta. The first parts of the story shows both characters dealing with growing up in Detroit and then later on attending the University of Michigan. From there though we have them moving around and landing on the east coast/south. I think a setting of a book is just as important as the characters and thought that Weiner did a great job of setting the mood so to speak with location changes and providing enough details to make you feel as if you are there too.
The ending I thought was very bittersweet. We get to see another family go on and know that through ups and downs they will be there for each other.
It was good. I didn't NOT like it but I didn't LOVE it either. It was a sweeping story following two sisters from early childhood to late middle age. It definitely shines a light on the feminist journey of the last 50-75 years. It's enlightening to see women's rights and gay rights through the microlens of sisters growing up in America from the 50's until now. The progress is heartening but the lack of progress is also glaring. At the same time, this story is about the traumas and decisions that can completely alter the trajectory of our lives and how we recover from the consequences of those choices.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about this book until the last 1/3, as it seemed like it was trying to pack too much into one story, like the novel was trying to do and be too much at once. But ultimately I enjoyed it, it did hit the mark on important issues around race, class, gender and sexism and ended up being a pretty satisfying read.
My favorite paragraph. “we lose ourselves, but we find our way back. You make the wrong choices, you make mistakes, you disappear for a decade, you marry the wrong man. You get hurt. You lose sight of who you are, or of who you want to be, and then you remember, and if you’re lucky you have friends who remind you. You come back to yourself again and again. You try, and fail, and try again, and fail again.”
This was slow for me and I had to force myself to finish it. I’ve enjoyed other books by this author but this one did not hold my attention.