Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J. Ryan Stradal

7 reviews

jo_22's review against another edition

emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Awesome book- I loved the Minnesota setting and that it was centered around the supper club. Did a great job shifting character perspectives and time periods and it was really wholesome. Themes/focus areas of family & generations, small town culture, hardship & hope. I do wish there was a bit more parts tying some plot points together (ex.

Have Ned reflect on Mariel’s death or convo of Ned talking to Julia about Gus. More of Florence and Mariel after they reconcile, etc

) however @ the same time I do think there was strength and effectiveness in not focusing so much on the dynamics between characters after plot points occur and more focused on how each character deals with / lives their life with the weight/gifts/hopes of past generations. Plus it aligns well with the Midwestern/Minnesotan way of “things we don’t talk about”. 
I loved the last page— and overall the book made me reflect on and appreciate my family & generations before me. 
Really well-written.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Infertility, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Grief, Cancer, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Minor: Infidelity, Alcohol, Classism, and Homophobia

purplepenning's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Gaslighting, Child death, Terminal illness, Alcohol, Infertility, Cancer, Death, Grief, Homophobia, and Miscarriage

Minor: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Blood, and Car accident

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I really enjoyed this book, and I was impressed at how the author could so intimately describe the characters' emotions. It was also a really complex look at the characters, which made them feel really human. People are extremely imperfect and make mistakes that hurt people, but we can't easily put them into boxes that are as simple as "good" and "bad." Will definitely read this author again. He had some really good turns of phrase.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Infertility, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, and Alcohol

Minor: Death of parent, Chronic illness, Infidelity, Sexual content, Miscarriage, Alcoholism, Cancer, Car accident, Outing, and Homophobia

readerette's review against another edition

I was hoping to like this story since it takes place in the Midwest, where I've lived my whole life, but it's all family/relationship drama of the types most often experienced in real life, which isn't that engaging for me. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Infidelity, Miscarriage, and Homophobia

mraddd's review

emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Infertility, Pregnancy, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal death, Car accident, and Miscarriage

Minor: Cancer and Infidelity

diana_reads_and_reads's review

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Infertility, Homophobia, Child death, Outing, and Infidelity

jess_segraves's review

emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Child death, and Infertility

Moderate: Death of parent and Infidelity