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stephfauatea's review
emotional
sad
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? It's complicated
2.5
novelvisits's review against another edition
4.0
Note: I received a copy of this book from Viking (via NetGalley) in exchange for my honest review.
{My Thoughts}
Geraldine, Sunny and Rachel first met in their early twenties when they all worked for the same magazine in Toronto. Geraldine was close to both, while Sunny and Rachel tolerated each other. As the world of print media shrank, Sunny and Rachel eventually shifted to NYC, ending up at the same publication. Geraldine longed for the excitement of New York and after pulling herself together following a horrible break up she finally made the move herself.
How Could She had two themes running through the story: the first, the dying field of print media and its impact on each of the friends and the second, the complicated relationships between the three thirty-something women. The better of the two by far was the thorny and ever shifting female friendships. Geraldine had always been the lynch pin between down-to-earth Rachel and the more glamorous Sunny, and that often was not an easy place to be.
“In her meaner moments, Geraldine thought of her two friends’ relationships as akin to that of a chambermaid and a VIP guest at a grand hotel.”
As Geraldine made the move to NYC, she found that frenemies Rachel and Sunny were suddenly spending a lot of time together…without her. I loved the shifting dynamics between the three women and how they all needed each other, yet pushed away. Rachel was needy, Geraldine fragile, and Sunny aloof. Their struggles with lives that weren’t quite living up to their own expectations and the efforts to be present for one another had a razor-sharp edge to them. Bravo Lauren Mechling!
“Geraldine and Rachel just stood there, still and cruel. “What is wrong with us?” Sunny cried into her palms. “Are we ever going to get to a point where we can just be? Where we’re not a group of women bearing grudges and sizing ourselves up against one another?”
You have to appreciate a writer who so thoroughly gets women and the power of female friendship at its worst and its best. Though the media side of How Could She sometimes felt a little slow, the friendship side shone and for that How Could She is a book worth adding to your summer reading list.
“Sylvie didn’t understand. It would be another ten years at least until Sylvie realized that the mediocre, imperfect people she’d happened to align herself with would end up being more significant to her than she could possibly fathom.”
{My Thoughts}
Geraldine, Sunny and Rachel first met in their early twenties when they all worked for the same magazine in Toronto. Geraldine was close to both, while Sunny and Rachel tolerated each other. As the world of print media shrank, Sunny and Rachel eventually shifted to NYC, ending up at the same publication. Geraldine longed for the excitement of New York and after pulling herself together following a horrible break up she finally made the move herself.
How Could She had two themes running through the story: the first, the dying field of print media and its impact on each of the friends and the second, the complicated relationships between the three thirty-something women. The better of the two by far was the thorny and ever shifting female friendships. Geraldine had always been the lynch pin between down-to-earth Rachel and the more glamorous Sunny, and that often was not an easy place to be.
“In her meaner moments, Geraldine thought of her two friends’ relationships as akin to that of a chambermaid and a VIP guest at a grand hotel.”
As Geraldine made the move to NYC, she found that frenemies Rachel and Sunny were suddenly spending a lot of time together…without her. I loved the shifting dynamics between the three women and how they all needed each other, yet pushed away. Rachel was needy, Geraldine fragile, and Sunny aloof. Their struggles with lives that weren’t quite living up to their own expectations and the efforts to be present for one another had a razor-sharp edge to them. Bravo Lauren Mechling!
“Geraldine and Rachel just stood there, still and cruel. “What is wrong with us?” Sunny cried into her palms. “Are we ever going to get to a point where we can just be? Where we’re not a group of women bearing grudges and sizing ourselves up against one another?”
You have to appreciate a writer who so thoroughly gets women and the power of female friendship at its worst and its best. Though the media side of How Could She sometimes felt a little slow, the friendship side shone and for that How Could She is a book worth adding to your summer reading list.
“Sylvie didn’t understand. It would be another ten years at least until Sylvie realized that the mediocre, imperfect people she’d happened to align herself with would end up being more significant to her than she could possibly fathom.”
alane374's review against another edition
3.0
Just ok...and I really wanted to love it after reading the reviews. Story lines fell flat as though something was always left off the page at the juiciest moments. It was a Chic Lit tease this book.
spinstah's review against another edition
3.0
This was OK, but for me it either needed more plot or more development of at least one of the central characters.
wangl5's review against another edition
1.0
This was a fun book to read about the complexities of some female friendships. However, there were a lot of characters in this book and many of them were one-dimensional and did not feel fully fleshed out. Additionally, there were parts of the book where the author seemed to have gotten the characters confused, as there were times when the author referred to Rachel when she clearly meant Geraldine, and vice versa at another point. Another moment when the book could have benefited from better editing was this sentence: "Shall we pretend we didn't here that?". I almost tore my hair out when I read this sentence.
Lastly, Matt's position was so confusing. Was he a PhD student? A faculty researcher? A PI? Does he have his own lab? Why does he have so many mentors and advisors he needs to speak to and meet with? How is he making in the upper 5-figures if he were to be a graduate student? Lastly, the worst offense was when Matt was celebrating his manuscript, which was "accepted for publication, pending a peer review, which Matt admitted it was certain to clear". Uh, what? I get celebrating a manuscript submission but pending peer review does no equal accepted for publication.
Lastly, Matt's position was so confusing. Was he a PhD student? A faculty researcher? A PI? Does he have his own lab? Why does he have so many mentors and advisors he needs to speak to and meet with? How is he making in the upper 5-figures if he were to be a graduate student? Lastly, the worst offense was when Matt was celebrating his manuscript, which was "accepted for publication, pending a peer review, which Matt admitted it was certain to clear". Uh, what? I get celebrating a manuscript submission but pending peer review does no equal accepted for publication.
nixieknox's review against another edition
3.0
These women were the perfect blend of infuriating and empathetic - none of them had real jobs but all seemed to be able to afford their swanky lifestyle. All were pretty un-self-aware but happy to notice their friends' flaws. The story was solid, and there was just enough comeuppance.
SPOILER ALERT:
Re Sunny: I was very relieved that a baby was not the answer - I hate that shit, when a woman is toying with the idea of having a baby, and then she decides she's not going to have one, only to get pregnant and see a baby is what will make her complete after all. In fact I was glad none of the characters had a simple, easy, dropped-in-their-lap solution to their problems.
SPOILER ALERT:
Re Sunny: I was very relieved that a baby was not the answer - I hate that shit, when a woman is toying with the idea of having a baby, and then she decides she's not going to have one, only to get pregnant and see a baby is what will make her complete after all. In fact I was glad none of the characters had a simple, easy, dropped-in-their-lap solution to their problems.
conzj's review against another edition
3.0
I received my copy from a Goodreads giveaway. I feel like the story depicted the intricacies of my female friendships in a way that I’ve never admitted or were aware of, but I was left wanting more from the story. I enjoyed reading about the girls weaving in and out of each other’s lives, but overall, it wasn’t particularly memorable and didn’t leave me with anything new.
calandra_hudson's review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, and Addiction
nic_t_dlr's review against another edition
3.0
This is a pretty realistic story about three friends. I picked the book up because the idea of frenemies sounded fun. So far, things are going a lot less dramatically than I thought they would. The characters have interesting personalities, especially Sunny, but I'm already 2/3rds in and nothing's really happened to draw me into the plot. Maybe I'll like this more when I finish this.
edit:
Just finished this book and I'm not really sure what happened... there was enough potential material to make this a great story though! I find myself thinking back on the world the author portrayed, but it never lived up to this. Still, I was interested enough to finish reading the whole story.
edit:
Just finished this book and I'm not really sure what happened... there was enough potential material to make this a great story though! I find myself thinking back on the world the author portrayed, but it never lived up to this. Still, I was interested enough to finish reading the whole story.