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gkj's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars for this quick read about a white upper middle class couple working on their marriage. I enjoyed both the husband and wife’s perspectives and the side stories of the wife’s clients dealing with weight loss issues. Easy and enjoyable, just what I needed.
wynne_ronareads's review against another edition
3.0
Cathi Hanauer is such an interesting writer. The first book I read by her, "My Sister's Bones," is to this day one of my favorites. Since then I've read "Sweet Ruin," and happened upon this one with much pleasure during a routine trip to the bookstore. On one hand, her characters are so real, so vivid, so true to the way life really is that it almost doesn't feel like reading a book. It's as though you're crouching underneath some family's living room window, watching as they live their lives inside, unaware of your presence. In that way I feel that Hanauer is very gifted. I root for her characters, (next time I hope she doesn't choose another annoying name for a daughter: so far we have Hazel and Magnolia,) I am invested in them most of the time, and the stories are very true. But that's also the down side of her work. At least for me. They're so real that nothing happens. There's no big clincher, there's never a surprise, things just unfurl as they would in life. One could argue this a positive, and I would probably agree with you. But that's why I read, I want something to happen in the book that wouldn't happen in a life I could recognize. In "My Sister's Bones," this does occur. Plot points that surprise you, and character development you don't see coming. Not so in "Sweet Ruin" and "Gone." Not to say that they aren't well written, they are. And I would read another novel by Hanauer. They just don't keep you turning the page to find out what happens next. You turn the page because you can already recognize what will happen next, because maybe you've lived it before. You decide if that holds your interest.
pattireadsalot's review
3.0
This was a book that had languished on my shelves for several years. I've been reading lots of contemporary relationship-based novels lately, so decided to squeeze this one in. For some reason, I wasn't expecting anything original...especially with the premise of a husband running away with a babysitter.
I appreciated how my expectations were exceeded a little. Eve, the wife left behind, is realistically forced to get on with life in order to pay bills and keep the family intact. While Eve is obviously distraught, the novel doesn't get bogged down in this event, even though it's the "crux" of the story. We get to hear about her career, and the impact she makes as a nutritionist. Her clients are fully fleshed out, and not relegated to one dimensional side characters. Eve has an existence and defined purpose outside of wife and motherhood. How nice to see this highlighted in a positive way, even with her emotional struggles.
There were a couple problems.While I am a huge exercise advocate, and try my best with healthy foods, I found the "health preaching" a little overdone. There were random tips and bits of what Eve was eating (while not with clients) that felt out of place in the context of what was happening in the current scene. I got a bit tired of hearing from her husband's perspective, even though he needed page time in order to make the novel sensical. I wanted to sympathize with him more, but felt he was mostly a huge baby, when what he needed was more of a swift kick in the nether region. However, anyone in a relationship is familiar with ebbs and flows, and perhaps this highlights my vengeful personality:-P
I did appreciate Hanauer's stance on medication, which is one I share. Prescription drug abuse and needless medicines aside, I do think medication is necessary in many instances. Meditation, prayer, lifestyle changes, and "trying" go a long way, but if God created Doctors, Nurses, and Researchers and gave them the ability to give us a pill a day with minimal side effects, but also the ability to recover joy....why not?
As in any book featuring children, I try to relate to the parent's current dilemma. In this, Eve talks about her eight year old son's changing skin smell when she hugs him. Perhaps this sounds odd, but I love smelling my little girls in the nape of their necks- sweet and fresh smelling, like only youth can have before puberty. "He came over and embraced her, and she breathed in his smell, sweet and familiar, though also tinged, she'd noticed lately, with something new: a touch of pungency, a lessening of the sweetness." (Pg. 165). I can't bear to think about this happening, even though I know it's inevitable.
Did it change my life? No, but I think this is a decent portrait of a troubled marriage...especially years into a union where priorities shift, people change, and things need adjusting in general- because life is STRESSFUL. There are some beautiful phrases thrown in as a bonus to any poetry lovers as well.
I appreciated how my expectations were exceeded a little. Eve, the wife left behind, is realistically forced to get on with life in order to pay bills and keep the family intact. While Eve is obviously distraught, the novel doesn't get bogged down in this event, even though it's the "crux" of the story. We get to hear about her career, and the impact she makes as a nutritionist. Her clients are fully fleshed out, and not relegated to one dimensional side characters. Eve has an existence and defined purpose outside of wife and motherhood. How nice to see this highlighted in a positive way, even with her emotional struggles.
There were a couple problems.While I am a huge exercise advocate, and try my best with healthy foods, I found the "health preaching" a little overdone. There were random tips and bits of what Eve was eating (while not with clients) that felt out of place in the context of what was happening in the current scene. I got a bit tired of hearing from her husband's perspective, even though he needed page time in order to make the novel sensical. I wanted to sympathize with him more, but felt he was mostly a huge baby, when what he needed was more of a swift kick in the nether region. However, anyone in a relationship is familiar with ebbs and flows, and perhaps this highlights my vengeful personality:-P
I did appreciate Hanauer's stance on medication, which is one I share. Prescription drug abuse and needless medicines aside, I do think medication is necessary in many instances. Meditation, prayer, lifestyle changes, and "trying" go a long way, but if God created Doctors, Nurses, and Researchers and gave them the ability to give us a pill a day with minimal side effects, but also the ability to recover joy....why not?
As in any book featuring children, I try to relate to the parent's current dilemma. In this, Eve talks about her eight year old son's changing skin smell when she hugs him. Perhaps this sounds odd, but I love smelling my little girls in the nape of their necks- sweet and fresh smelling, like only youth can have before puberty. "He came over and embraced her, and she breathed in his smell, sweet and familiar, though also tinged, she'd noticed lately, with something new: a touch of pungency, a lessening of the sweetness." (Pg. 165). I can't bear to think about this happening, even though I know it's inevitable.
Did it change my life? No, but I think this is a decent portrait of a troubled marriage...especially years into a union where priorities shift, people change, and things need adjusting in general- because life is STRESSFUL. There are some beautiful phrases thrown in as a bonus to any poetry lovers as well.
lisagray68's review
2.0
I feel like I just got a lecture on healthy eating AND depression (and using medication for depression) all in one big fell sweep; but I thought I was just trying to read a book for entertainment on an airplane!! Don't get me wrong, healthy eating and depression are both issues that are actually close to my heart -- but this book is a little too preachy on both topics for my taste. I actually like it when books can weave education and information into fiction in ways that help people understand complicated topics better. But this book didn't do the trick for me.
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