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rachelsbookishlife's review against another edition
1.0
** spoiler alert ** This book took me 4 days to finish. I generally read a book in 1 to 2 days. I had no desire to continue picking this up, and usually i would DNF, but i made a promise to see it through. And that i did. So this 1 star comes scathing from my computer so i can rant to you all about how terrible Grace is. This book is everything but the kitchen sink, there is absolutely way too much going on. Grace is not redeemable, even with her tragedies. Grace is a miserable human being, as well as everyone around her. Her husband betrays her, her daughter is worst than an angsty teen. I don't think there was a good discussion on women's bodies as there was a constant focus on Grace's body and the discussion around the grooming from her daughter's teacher was also just poorly done. The author wanted to put so much stuff in that everything was only mildly touched on, instead of picking 1 or 2 big topics and really making sure they talked about the detriment of those topics. I did not like that she didn't want kids, but instead got pregnant and changed her mind. So you know just like everyone in society says. Not only that she then goes on to just not be a good mom. She slaps her daughter, she has weird thoughts about her body, she stops being a mom for 5 weeks and then just comes back and everything is supposed to be normal. Not to mention her current day timeline where she beats the crap out of a car because SHE HAS TO BRING HER DAUGHTER A CAKE! insert confused face meme here... But of course it's because she is Perimenopausal... because you know women and their hysteria and all.
The only thing i will give her is that she reported her daughter's teacher for being a POS.
The flow was clunky, the chapters confusing. It has 3 perspectives, 2 of them are past timelines - 1 is 4 months before and after and the other is 2002 and after, and it has a current day timeline. All 3 timelines are frantic and baffling, as they have flashbacks that come without warning. The current day timeline is all in the place of 1 day, which just adds to the chaos of this book. In the end, this book is nothing like Where'd You Go Bernadette, or Ove or Brit Marie or any other quirky character that isn't all sunshine and rainbows. Grace was insufferable and i will not change my mind.
The only thing i will give her is that she reported her daughter's teacher for being a POS.
The flow was clunky, the chapters confusing. It has 3 perspectives, 2 of them are past timelines - 1 is 4 months before and after and the other is 2002 and after, and it has a current day timeline. All 3 timelines are frantic and baffling, as they have flashbacks that come without warning. The current day timeline is all in the place of 1 day, which just adds to the chaos of this book. In the end, this book is nothing like Where'd You Go Bernadette, or Ove or Brit Marie or any other quirky character that isn't all sunshine and rainbows. Grace was insufferable and i will not change my mind.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Cursing, Death, and Fatphobia
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Grief, and Pregnancy
srestrepo92886's review against another edition
Too much bad language.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing
laheath's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book was not what I expected, but so much more! It rotates among three time periods, 20+ years ago when Grace met her husband, 4 months ago when her life really took a downward turn, and present time when Grace is simply trying to get a cake to her daughter's 16th birthday party. Surprisingly, it wasn't difficult at all to keep up with the different time periods. It began as a familiar story of a middle-aged, perimenopausal woman who decided she was fed up with the everyday nuisances of her life, i.e., the things women are expected to put up with, and instead was going to take action rather than tolerate them anymore. There are several funny anecdotes about her standing up for herself, but as the story continues, it becomes more serious, and heartbreaking in ways that any mother could imagine. She learns more about herself and her family, and how she could have handled things differently without taking the blame for everything. As other reviews have mentioned, it did seem like the author tried to put a lot of issues into one story, but at the same time, combined with the flashbacks to the other time periods, they actually worked to explain Grace's situation. Wonderful debut and great cover!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Child death
Moderate: Cursing, Adult/minor relationship, Pregnancy, and Infidelity
Minor: Body shaming and Sexual content
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