Reviews

Greta and Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly

room334's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective 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

4.0

Incredibly funny. Rebecca Reilly has such a one-of-a-kind voice, and I instantly fell in love with these characters. My biggest complaint is that even with the list of characters at the beginning (which I do appreciate!), I still found the cast and so many similar sounding names a little confusing. I think there probably were some references that went over my head as an American as well. But this made me laugh out loud more than any book I've read recently, and I'm a new fan of Rebecca Reilly for sure. 

literarycrushes's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted 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? It's complicated

4.0

rachelsmith3773's review

emotional funny reflective 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

3.75

fatimaelf's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

4.75

I enjoyed this book far more than I anticipated I would before I read it, and far more than I thought I would once I had actually started reading it. By the time I’d finished it I was surprised to find that I would miss the characters, and had really loved following their journeys. 

The book follows the titular characters in split-POV alternating chapters. Valdin, a whole mess, recently left his researcher job and now works as the host of a TV show. He and his long term boyfriend have split, but Valdin’s not over it. Greta, an entire disaster, is a master’s student with very little money, a woeful crush on a horrible girl, and a crushing realization that her job prospects are lacking. Though this book is primarily character-driven, there is some minutiae of plot, mostly centered around Valdin and his eventual absconding Argentina, which happens fairly late in the book, but which we built up to in small doses while understanding Greta and Valdin’s relationships with each other, their family, and their friend(s). 

Before I get into the rest, I want to say the reason I don’t generally enjoy split first-person POVs is that many times, the author doesn’t have the skill to pull off distinct enough voices to justify it. And unfortunately, the same can be said here, unsurprising since it’s Reilly’s debut novel: Valdin and Greta’s voices blend together, to the point where they feel almost like the same person, down to the same mental illnesses (which, in fairness, they may well have). Only when we see one through the other’s eyes are the differences between them noticeable. Of course this can be explained away, and I considered that perhaps it was purposeful, since they’re siblings and have similar mannerisms. But if it was intentional, it was the wrong choice — if I can’t keep track of who’s saying what, and forget who I’m following, I’m lost as a reader. It wasn’t a persistent problem, but it happened a handful of times, enough to be noticeable.

This isn’t exclusive to the two of them either. Plenty of times, with some exceptions, the characters all sounded the same, and said things it felt like Greta or Valdin would say, and not what they’d say as distinct characters of their own. At times, too, there didn’t feel to be a distinct enough difference in the way the Greta or Valdin spoke to the reader and the way they spoke to others. And some conversations were weird to follow because they felt so unrealistic and robotic, such as the one between Valdin and Slava at the end of chapter five (“Glitter”). It was an info dump, not a natural conversation, a way to explain Valdin’s history with Xabi, and to introduce the fight Valdin and Slava had, but it didn’t feel organic. That wasn’t the only scene to make me feel that way — that the whole chapter was meant as an info dump via unnatural conversation between two characters — but I eventually got over it, because I got used to it. 

And everyone just talks so much and says exactly what they’re feeling and why, none of the subterfuge you can expect with people, so it feels like we’re either in alternate universe where it’s impossible to lie or hold back, or none of these people are human. I know at least some of them are autistic (the acknowledgements page all but confirmed that) but there is no way all of them are, and they all acted the same. And yet, despite all that, I felt genuine fondness for these alien people. They were funny, and their struggles were real enough, even if the way they articulated them was not. 

Where the book really shone, though, was with the family dynamics. They were hilarious. The entire chapter where Ell meets Greta’s family for the first time (“Rumbo + Dinska”) was hysterical, and by far my favorite. So many moments were so absurd that it’s hard to understand just how Reilly pulled them off, and so well at that. Either the family are saying or doing something so out there that it’s funny, or Greta and Valdin are thinking something so out there that it’s funny. They both go on the tangents typical of ADHD people (which was both familiar and relatable) where to get from point A to point C they’ve detoured to the letters G, X, and B. Though the family doesn’t initially appear to have their own thing going on beyond G and V, as the novel progresses we do get to know them as individuals — Giuseppe as the lonely business man, Thony as the guilty lost man, Casper as the try-hard family man, Beatrice as the adventurous finally-free woman, Linsh as the intense and lovable family man, etc and etc. I loved Freya and how weird she was, and wish we’d gotten to see her more, because you just know her peculiarities are a result of her wack ass family. 

I will admit to being less invested in Valdin’s story as we came to the end. It’s difficult to gauge the passing of time relative to when you’re reading, because sometimes you’ll have a character say “oh Cosmo left Paris six months ago and you still don’t know where he is?” but you didn’t realize that six months had passed and so you’re disoriented. It felt like Valdin’s time in Argentina shouldn’t have been as impactful as it was, because we only see in two or three short chapters what was meant to take place across a whole month. Similarly, though I loved them and they were adorable, Greta and Ell’s relationship was meant to be something they’d been doing for…I dunno, months? weeks? by the time we saw Ell again past their first date. If we’d gotten dates at the beginning of chapters, I think that would have helped with the confusion of time. 

I want to reemphasize that the family dynamics were the best part, and so tangibly real. Once we got to the surprise wedding, the last quarter of the book just flew by because everyone came together in a fun, wholesome, hilarious way. The interactions between the core five family were the best of the book by that point, and the scrambling of everyone to plan the wedding was heartwarming and cinematic. There were two surprise POV switches (Casper and Ell) at the end I thought were unnecessary, in the sense that they didn’t need to be first person chapters, but their chapters are mostly devoted to dialogue anyway, so it didn’t matter too much. The surprise polyamory was insane and the way the pieces fell together was masterfully done. In fact, the conclusions of everyone’s stories came together from the bits we discovered along the course of the novel in a really organic way, and I commend Reilly for successfully making that happen. Though it’s obvious the stories aren’t finished, our time with them ended at a point that felt satisfying, even if I wouldn’t have protested more of Greta. 

The best part of this book was the characters, by far. I’m not usually a huge fan of character-driven novels, but this one was well worth the read (and maybe even a reread in a few years). 

booklindamom's review against another edition

2.0

????

holamrslola's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted 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

milliemarilyn's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

This was a lovely lighthearted read. The main narrators Greta and Valdin are siblings and this book explores their individual and family relationships. I liked them both a lot!
There is virtually no plot so this is entirely character focused on dialogue and vibes, so if you’re a plot reader you may not like this. Personally I enjoyed experiencing the narrators bumbling through their lives. The writing is easy to read and the narrators are very witty. 
I do agree with other feedback however that there are too many side characters and even with a character list by the end I didn’t know who they all were which caused me to lose interest.

subparpeaches's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

dhewitt's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.5

sharni_tilbrook's review against another edition

4.75

This book was really fun, I love the characters