Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

This Must Be the Place by Maggie O'Farrell

8 reviews

lauratoline's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Another fabulous story of family from Maggie O'Farrell. Lovable but flawed characters who you will root for.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Death of parent, Gun violence, Infertility, Abandonment, Alcohol, Death, Infidelity, Abortion, Murder, Drug use, Grief, Alcoholism, and Eating disorder

Minor: Medical content, Sexual content, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

allison_f_2023's review

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility and Infidelity

abbie_'s review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

4.25

If you’re looking for your next engaging family drama (heavy on the drama) then may I suggest Maggie O’Farrell’s This Must Be The Place? This was my fifth of O’Farrell’s works and my second favourite so far after Hamnet. It follows a wide cast of characters across several intertwined families, touching on things like fame, divorce, infidelity, forgiveness, with plenty of skeletons in closets! The two main characters are Claudette and Daniel, but we hear from basically all the ‘supporting characters’ in their lives - however briefly their lives might have intersected. For the most part this works really well, I love seeing different facets of a character revealed by a different view point. But there was one chapter near the end where I think O’Farrell got a bit carried away, including too much detail from a minor character’s life which muddied things a bit - preparation for a different novel perhaps? The insight into her process for this novel at the end was fascinating, as she wanted to take the linear narrative and chop it up, which she does, but it’s still very easy to follow I thought! Her writing is clear, engaging and emotive, and I found myself devouring huge chunks at a time. I think it’s a good one to read if you’re feeling slumpy, as it’s got that addictive quality!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity, Abortion, Grief, Child death, Medical content, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Miscarriage, and Gun violence

alice2000's review against another edition

hopeful reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Infidelity, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Eating disorder, Child death, Abortion, Infertility, and Death of parent

chris_reads's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Abortion, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Death of parent, Infertility, Infidelity, and Medical content

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Gun violence, Drug abuse, and Eating disorder

garlinds's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

I always forget how much I love family sagas until I pick one up. In this novel, Maggie O'Farrell weaves together the relationship between Daniel and Claudette in such a beautiful and heartbreaking way. 

I fell in love with the characters and their complexities, despite the frustration they caused. I enjoyed how the chapters of this book read like a series of interwoven short stories as each character crossed paths with one another, offering a fresh perspective to the story. And though I got a bit mixed up as the story jumped back and forth in time, I liked how the book explored how our pasts are linked to our futures.

Thank you to @fictionmatters for selecting this as the May book club pick! As always, last weekend's discussion took my reading of this book to a whole new level.

This was my first Maggie O'Farrell, and it certainly won't be my last!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Alcoholism, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Gun violence, Infertility, and Pregnancy

Minor: Animal cruelty, Infidelity, and Miscarriage

womanwill's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Grief, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Murder, Pregnancy, and Abortion

emilylovesbooks's review

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Abortion, Infertility, Infidelity, Death of parent, and Child death