Reviews

The Best Awful by Carrie Fisher

zoetaulli's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I’m dying to know what parts of this book came from her life, I know it’s a lot, I recognized several things from her memoir. 

mllejoyeuxnoel's review against another edition

4.0

What can I say about another journey to hell and back through Suzanne Vale's mind? Fisher's writing is so aesthetically pleasing, so accessibly visceral, that it is always a pleasure to disappear into her work for a few hundred pages.

letterstoayoungmel's review against another edition

funny tense 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

3.75

swagglebutt's review against another edition

5.0

If I had read this book it probably would have been 3 stars from me. But listening to Carrie Fisher herself narrate it made this a truly beautiful experience. Sure, I'd heard half the stories already in her memoir Wishful Drinking, but it didn't matter because her storytelling is so captivating, so funny even when talking about darkness, that it really makes the book more interesting. I highly recommend listening to the audiobook rather than reading it yourself.

magsmybags's review against another edition

emotional funny sad fast-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

4.5

alekswhite's review against another edition

5.0

AHHH, Carrie Fisher's talent knows no bounds.

This book was neurotic and exasperating and you felt like the entire time you were right there on the wave of Suzanne's emotions.

For anyone that has ever wanted to laugh or cry or even just taste a moment inside the consciousness of a manic depressive, this is for you.

mehitabels's review against another edition

4.0

"I'm just smart enough to be unhappy."

"... her battle to accept a life so often seeming so inexplicably unacceptable."

lemeilleurs's review against another edition

3.0

This book was much better than its predecessor. But honestly, it didn't even feel like it belonged in the same world. Sure, it has the the characters, but the tone and style of the book is completely different than Postcards from the Edge.

If PFTE was about going to rehab so you stop doing drugs, then The Best Awful is about going to the loony bin because you stopped doing your drugs. In The Best Awful, Suzanne Vale now has a kid and a gay husband - nowhere near the same person that we left in PFTE. She decides she's tired of taking her bipolar medication and everything goes haywire... The result is entertaining, but devastating.

I've yet to read Fisher's actual memoirs, but what I have read about her personal life, it seems like this is pretty freakin' close. I would be curious to know where the similarities end between Suzanne and Carrie's lives. One thing is for sure, Fisher knows how to tell a story.

mysteriesandmemoirs's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

allielippe's review against another edition

Confusing plot, lots of rambling, circular plot, just felt like work reading it