Reviews

The Man of My Dreams by Curtis Sittenfeld

tonyriver's review against another edition

4.0

Hannah is a great character. She seems to have a challenging time getting to be comfortable with her life and reams. I guess that is in part what makes her so relate all. Not always the nicest person in the room - she can be pretty honest - but always interesting and decent.

I enjoyed following her for a decade and a bit and Sittenfeld is a great writer. While not for a light read it is Recommended.

tschonfeld's review against another edition

2.0

This was ok; not great - it came off as depressing rather than revelatory, but maybe that's because I identified a wee bit too much with Hannah. Regardless, I can't really recommend it; this was no Prep.

kymme's review against another edition

4.0

This book didn't grab me right away, maybe because I wasn't that fascinated by Hannah at age 14, but as the book progresses and she ages, I did find her interesting, so much so that I read the whole book in under 24 hours. The family dynamics are believable and I enjoyed that Hannah had both a sister and a female cousin with whom she had complicated, but overall good, relationships with. This is a coming of age story that is, on the surface, about "getting a boyfriend," but it's far from cliched and it's quite nuanced in terms of other kinds of relationships, too.

dmurphy's review against another edition

2.0

I loved Prep and American Wife but this just didn't capture my attention and I just kept reason because of the love I had for the previous books.

andintothetrees's review against another edition

4.0

Before I begin, I’d like to confess that until I googled for an image to accompany this review I had no idea Curtis Sittenfeld is a woman (I have previously only come across men with that first name, maybe that’s just a British thing though). Not that the gender of the author matters, but it does rather negate the point I was planning to make about a male author having written a very convincing female lead character. Anyway, the cliché “don’t judge a book by its cover” is well known, but in this case I think “don’t judge a book by its title” is equally well placed. When my friend Ingrid recommended Curtis’ books to me I decided to see what the library had available and I must admit I felt embarrassed to check out a book with such a cheesy title (I would rather have checked out her first novel, Prep, but the only copy was a giant hardback that would have been difficult to carry around). This was no feather-light “chick lit” novel however, despite the impression its name may give.

... [Read the rest of my review here: https://whathannahread.wordpress.com/2011/12/11/the-man-of-my-dreams-by-curtis-sittenfeld/]

reachant's review against another edition

3.0

I haven't read PREP but I have read AMERICAN WIFE and this one just doesn't stack up! But it did draw me in towards the end. A lot of the time I just felt it wasn't going anywhere.

moosetash's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

2.0

toesinthesand's review against another edition

3.0

I liked Sisterland better. this was good but the main character occasionally annoyed me with her tendency to blurt out every thought that entered her head, even if it was inappropriate.

sungyena's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

risagross's review against another edition

3.0

I'd like to break with the general consensus: I actually liked this book more than [book: Prep].