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cheezh8er's review against another edition
5.0
Many thanks to a former teacher who continues to encourage life long learning in her work
bookishmama17's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness
the_old_gray_cat's review
1.0
An unsuccessful professor faces the decline of his marriage and career at once. This book felt like a less joyous, less witty version of "Straight Man" by Richard Russo.
michellemyers's review
3.0
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Ivan and Prue are a married couple who are also professors at the same university. They couldn't be more different- Prue is a vibrant social biolinguistic professor with lots of promising opportunities in her future, whereas Ivan is a shy philosophy professor without any prospects such as tenure, like his wife.
This novel definitely captures challenges of a marriage, however I felt like there was more I wanted to see. I really enjoyed the flashbacks in the beginning and would have liked to see more of that. The author is extremely talented, her words flowed effortlessly across the page and I felt like I understood Ivan and how he saw his life. I also enjoyed the relationship between Ivan and Frank. The mental illness aspect was fascinating and at times, heartbreaking.
Overall, I did like the story but I think I expected a little more interaction from Ivan and Prue, as though something was missing.
Ivan and Prue are a married couple who are also professors at the same university. They couldn't be more different- Prue is a vibrant social biolinguistic professor with lots of promising opportunities in her future, whereas Ivan is a shy philosophy professor without any prospects such as tenure, like his wife.
This novel definitely captures challenges of a marriage, however I felt like there was more I wanted to see. I really enjoyed the flashbacks in the beginning and would have liked to see more of that. The author is extremely talented, her words flowed effortlessly across the page and I felt like I understood Ivan and how he saw his life. I also enjoyed the relationship between Ivan and Frank. The mental illness aspect was fascinating and at times, heartbreaking.
Overall, I did like the story but I think I expected a little more interaction from Ivan and Prue, as though something was missing.
karenika's review
3.0
3.5 stars.
It's not often I want a book to be longer but this is one of the cases where I felt the author could have given us a bit more. This is a well-written novel about two professors who both study language from different perspectives (science vs philosophy) and their relationship and the lack of communication in it.
There is a lot in this small book: competition between spouses, complexities of academic life, misunderstandings in marriage, supporting a mentally ill family member, misunderstandings that cause everything to go awry and more. And yet I was left wanting a bit more from each part of the story. I wanted to see how the characters evolved.
Maybe that alone is a nod to how great the novel is because if it weren't I likely wouldn't have cared to want more. The writing in this novel is beautiful. The character development is rich. I am looking forward to another book by this author.
thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in return for an honest review.
It's not often I want a book to be longer but this is one of the cases where I felt the author could have given us a bit more. This is a well-written novel about two professors who both study language from different perspectives (science vs philosophy) and their relationship and the lack of communication in it.
There is a lot in this small book: competition between spouses, complexities of academic life, misunderstandings in marriage, supporting a mentally ill family member, misunderstandings that cause everything to go awry and more. And yet I was left wanting a bit more from each part of the story. I wanted to see how the characters evolved.
Maybe that alone is a nod to how great the novel is because if it weren't I likely wouldn't have cared to want more. The writing in this novel is beautiful. The character development is rich. I am looking forward to another book by this author.
thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in return for an honest review.
susanm_82's review
4.0
I wouldn't say this one goes down in the annals as super memorable but it was entertaining and a little weird and the ending wasn't totally expected. Sometimes that's what you're looking for!
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shaniasstorylines's review
2.0
Didn’t really enjoy reading this book. The end was a bit better in the end but it took me 120 pages roughly to get into it and for something to happen...
missmesmerized's review
3.0
Ivan and Prue both live for their careers, Ivan in philosophy and Prue as an ornithologist. For some time already, things have not run very smoothly between them, yet, it is not very clear why this is so. Maybe the fact that Prue is a lot more successful than Ivan and close to getting a tenure, or it is the arrival of one of Prue’s favourite authors who joins their circle of friends. When Prue is to give a public lecture which might finalise her post at the college, her father Frank joins them against his daughter’s wish. Frank has been struggling with his bipolar disorder and Prue fears the worst. Just a couple of days and nothing is like it was before anymore in their life.
Lindsay Stern’s debut novel leaves me a bit pondering. On the one hand, she addresses so many important topics that are worth mentioning and thinking about, on the other hand, when I finished it, I had to ask myself: and now? So what? It is a snap-shot of her characters’ life without a clear aim, I just didn’t get her intention for narrating this story.
As said before, there are interesting aspects such as the father’s way of coping with his mental issues, but also what the bipolar disorder does to him. I always find it worth writing and reading about these kinds of issues simply to raise awareness, but also to foster understanding and knowledge and I think literature can be a big help here. I also appreciated the way Stern shows the slight imbalances in the relationship between Ivan and Prue. They are professionals in different fields and certainly should not compete with each other, nevertheless, this is one of their main issues: how can a husband cope with a wife being more successful? In general, Ivan’s behaviour is worth taking a closer look at: he only starts to pay real attention to Prue when he becomes aware of other men’s attraction to her. The war they start is nasty, but I guess this is quite authentic in their situation.
There is a whole lot of theory about languages and especially bird communication. Even though I am a linguist, this did not really grab my attention since I already found the idea behind so strange that I didn’t want to go any deeper in this weird theory. Her style of writing though is quite promising and I surely would try another novel of the author.
Lindsay Stern’s debut novel leaves me a bit pondering. On the one hand, she addresses so many important topics that are worth mentioning and thinking about, on the other hand, when I finished it, I had to ask myself: and now? So what? It is a snap-shot of her characters’ life without a clear aim, I just didn’t get her intention for narrating this story.
As said before, there are interesting aspects such as the father’s way of coping with his mental issues, but also what the bipolar disorder does to him. I always find it worth writing and reading about these kinds of issues simply to raise awareness, but also to foster understanding and knowledge and I think literature can be a big help here. I also appreciated the way Stern shows the slight imbalances in the relationship between Ivan and Prue. They are professionals in different fields and certainly should not compete with each other, nevertheless, this is one of their main issues: how can a husband cope with a wife being more successful? In general, Ivan’s behaviour is worth taking a closer look at: he only starts to pay real attention to Prue when he becomes aware of other men’s attraction to her. The war they start is nasty, but I guess this is quite authentic in their situation.
There is a whole lot of theory about languages and especially bird communication. Even though I am a linguist, this did not really grab my attention since I already found the idea behind so strange that I didn’t want to go any deeper in this weird theory. Her style of writing though is quite promising and I surely would try another novel of the author.
thecopycait's review
2.0
Thank you, Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Viking for the ARC!
Shoutout to my home state of Rhode Island! I loved the actual info on animal languages, how animals communicate. I liked that the resolution felt realistic.
But overall I struggled with this. It was uneven. There were times where something intense happened and I couldn’t read fast enough for about ten pages. But more often it was slow, dense, and/or wordy. I don’t usually have a problem with big words in a book (I usually learn something!) but the big words used here were...I don’t know if they were supposed to show how some of the characters struggled to relate to others? It just didn’t work for me—it made it harder to read and didn’t serve the story enough to outweigh the struggle in reading it. The book also sometimes got too deep into the weeds of science or academia or other complicated things, without serving the story or the reader’s experience.
Shoutout to my home state of Rhode Island! I loved the actual info on animal languages, how animals communicate. I liked that the resolution felt realistic.
But overall I struggled with this. It was uneven. There were times where something intense happened and I couldn’t read fast enough for about ten pages. But more often it was slow, dense, and/or wordy. I don’t usually have a problem with big words in a book (I usually learn something!) but the big words used here were...I don’t know if they were supposed to show how some of the characters struggled to relate to others? It just didn’t work for me—it made it harder to read and didn’t serve the story enough to outweigh the struggle in reading it. The book also sometimes got too deep into the weeds of science or academia or other complicated things, without serving the story or the reader’s experience.