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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
Another great summer book - a little slow in the beginning but it definitely picked up.
You know who is great at writing books? Elin Flippin’ Hilderbrand. Here is an example of why:
Over the summer, I read Such a Fun Age, which is great. But so much of the plot was about how the boyfriend had wronged the white mom in high school, and I just couldn’t buy it. I was like why is this bitch so traumatized by this very normal high school boyfriend problem of missed communication and leaked note and whatever. And why, when she tells her adult girlfriends about it, are they all like up in arms and hell no? Because if someone told me that today about their high school boyfriend, I’d be like wow, rough, but uh... this is 20 years later? Yes? Fine to dislike him but like... have we not let that go?
When it became clear in Silver Girl that the Toby story was going to be more relevant than just part of Connie and Meredith’s high school beginnings, I was like uh oh, not the Such a Fun Age problem again, where I am expected to believe this 50-year-old is still devastated by her high school boyfriend. But Elin! Is so good at her job! That she SOLD IT. I believed that Toby being 19 and inconsiderate was that devastating to Meredith, layered in with her father’s death, paired with it, moving her to Freddie. I get it. I buy it. I loved this book.
Over the summer, I read Such a Fun Age, which is great. But so much of the plot was about how the boyfriend had wronged the white mom in high school, and I just couldn’t buy it. I was like why is this bitch so traumatized by this very normal high school boyfriend problem of missed communication and leaked note and whatever. And why, when she tells her adult girlfriends about it, are they all like up in arms and hell no? Because if someone told me that today about their high school boyfriend, I’d be like wow, rough, but uh... this is 20 years later? Yes? Fine to dislike him but like... have we not let that go?
When it became clear in Silver Girl that the Toby story was going to be more relevant than just part of Connie and Meredith’s high school beginnings, I was like uh oh, not the Such a Fun Age problem again, where I am expected to believe this 50-year-old is still devastated by her high school boyfriend. But Elin! Is so good at her job! That she SOLD IT. I believed that Toby being 19 and inconsiderate was that devastating to Meredith, layered in with her father’s death, paired with it, moving her to Freddie. I get it. I buy it. I loved this book.
4 stars on a beach book scoring scale. Engaging story with absurd drama that is the hallmark of this type of book, lots of talk of summertime and Nantucket and other wistful fluff, and a plot that only sort of manages to hold up to a plausibility test - what more do you want in a beach read? I also really liked that the two main characters were ladies pushing 50, and that they were framed as smart even as they reflected on all of the dumb things they had done.
This was my first Hilderbrand novel, would read more when I'm in need of something light and fun with lots of WASPy Nantucketness!
This was my first Hilderbrand novel, would read more when I'm in need of something light and fun with lots of WASPy Nantucketness!
I didn’t love this Elin Hilderbrand novel. I found the main character incredibly naive and silly.
Another great read from Elin Hilderbrand...her books have interesting characters and intriguing plots. I really enjoyed reading about the long friendship between Meredith and Connie, and all of the life events they've been through together. I felt like there was a bit of a let down at the end...the "mystery" of who is tormenting Meredith sort of fizzles out and I was hoping for more resolution of the Ponzi scheme storyline. Still a great book overall.
This had its moments of good storytelling, but it mostly recounted the Bernie Madoff scheme. So it seemed unoriginal and boring.
I really wanted to give this book four stars BUT. I was simultaneously listening to this book while reading Golden Girl. Even though Hilderbrand presented a really interesting story (from the POV of fictional Bernie Madoff’s wife), the book suffered on so many levels. I kept confusing the characters in this book with the characters in Golden Girl and 28 Summers, which is to say that Hilderbrand works hard from her preset templates. There’s always at least one character from an upper middle class background that has it “rough” teaching in an inner city school, which obviously comes from Hilderbrand’s personal background. Or the inevitable mention to DC/Bethesda. Or the golden girl that was valedictorian and goes to an Ivy. The premise was SO good but executed poorly! Don’t buy this, borrow it from your library. Happy to squeeze a few of her books in while it still feels like summer.
nothing really happens in this book and the ending was unsatisfying sorta just average and way too long for what it was
3.5 stars. For a verrry long book, the story moved along really fast and it kept my attention. I would’ve rated this 4 stars but the ending was such a cop out! Especially since through the whole book it had been chugging towards the opposite conclusion. As a reader, I hate leaving things open ended, I need closure!
The characters were well written and relatable. Of course, the story, being “ripped from the headlines” was realistic and an alternate view of what we miss with stories of the infamous. Good beach read.
The characters were well written and relatable. Of course, the story, being “ripped from the headlines” was realistic and an alternate view of what we miss with stories of the infamous. Good beach read.