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etherealfire's review
3.0
A novel about a man's relationships with five women and the effects it has on all of them. A great big beautifully written read. Set in North Dakota in contemporary times, it touches on various cultures. Each of the five women are very different from each other; their only real common ground is their ex-husband who seems to bring calamity to everything and everyone he touches.
lindsayb's review
3.0
It took me a few years to read this book. It is not the punch-in-the-stomach Erdrich read as most other of her books. There are moments of brilliance, but it takes a bit of patience to get to each in this one. Still, she's one of the few writers that give me pause while reading to admire how much she fiercely loves her characters. Even if this isn't my favorite, Erdrich still has the main line to my soul.
emmc's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
slcrow's review
5.0
I'm going to start by warning you: this book is painful. If you want to read a book about happy endings and hot romance, this is not the book for you.
I'm not even one hundred percent convinced some of the love expressed in this book is about what most would consider "real" love. But then, Erdrich suggests just as much with the title. Love is hardly ever initially an act of wisdom. Love burns. Love scars. Love rips you to pieces and leaves you a desiccated corpse by the side of the road. Love is blind because it consumes you and makes you ignore everything you thought you loved before. It's as foolhardy and obsessive as grief, which is another extreme experience of love in and of itself.
This is especially true if you love the wrong person, and many of the women in this book undoubtedly fell in love with the wrong person. The man they loved--the man some of them still, on some level, love--is not a good person. He's selfish, short-sighted, and completely irresponsible. But with divorce rates as high as they are, I'm willing to bet that most of us have had experience with loving the wrong person at some time or another and know the experience well. Many people will recognize this type of "burning love" and realize that these characters are very real, very flawed people who all are broken by love in different ways.
Not all love burns the same way. In some cases, love smolders, warms, and endures. There are some examples of this in the book--which I don't really want to talk about explicitly, due to the fact that they really spoil some great reveals in the story. Not all of this enduring love ends well either, though, as the heartbreak of living without even the right person can result in destructive acts.
The simple truth is that love is an experience that transforms, both for the better and the worse. Love will not leave you the same on the other side. Books that end with "happily ever after" end too soon. The truth is on the other side of those words. Most of life is lived, and most of love is endured, beyond "happily ever after," and while it's not always pretty, it will inevitably leave you burning, changing, and somehow beyond what you were before.
I'm not even one hundred percent convinced some of the love expressed in this book is about what most would consider "real" love. But then, Erdrich suggests just as much with the title. Love is hardly ever initially an act of wisdom. Love burns. Love scars. Love rips you to pieces and leaves you a desiccated corpse by the side of the road. Love is blind because it consumes you and makes you ignore everything you thought you loved before. It's as foolhardy and obsessive as grief, which is another extreme experience of love in and of itself.
This is especially true if you love the wrong person, and many of the women in this book undoubtedly fell in love with the wrong person. The man they loved--the man some of them still, on some level, love--is not a good person. He's selfish, short-sighted, and completely irresponsible. But with divorce rates as high as they are, I'm willing to bet that most of us have had experience with loving the wrong person at some time or another and know the experience well. Many people will recognize this type of "burning love" and realize that these characters are very real, very flawed people who all are broken by love in different ways.
Not all love burns the same way. In some cases, love smolders, warms, and endures. There are some examples of this in the book--which I don't really want to talk about explicitly, due to the fact that they really spoil some great reveals in the story. Not all of this enduring love ends well either, though, as the heartbreak of living without even the right person can result in destructive acts.
The simple truth is that love is an experience that transforms, both for the better and the worse. Love will not leave you the same on the other side. Books that end with "happily ever after" end too soon. The truth is on the other side of those words. Most of life is lived, and most of love is endured, beyond "happily ever after," and while it's not always pretty, it will inevitably leave you burning, changing, and somehow beyond what you were before.
eveningstar_reader's review
4.0
I think I'll read some more of her older books again. This one I thought I had not read, but I remembered the first chapter. Maybe it happens in another book of hers too, I know the characters interact across generations and families and books. Anyway, I love her writing. This book makes you want to see your best friends, your family, everyone who was important to you at some point and drink wine and have deep conversations with them. The only thing that bugged me was how destructive the husband was to those around him and people forgiving him all the time...
erins_library's review
4.0
Hi friends. I really should have posted this review at the end of May, but here we are! This was read as part of #erdrichmedicinereadalong, and currently we’re reading The Antelope Woman. If you’d like to join us for a video discussion taking place the weekend of July 10th, please let me know!
⠀
I was pleasantly surprised to realize this was connected to the Love Medicine series. It was really lovely to be back in the world Erdrich created and deepen connections to characters and aspects of the stories. There was closure for a couple of loose ends from The Bingo Palace that I appreciated. This book was less about the story and more of a deep dive on the characters (which I enjoyed). The book follows John Mauser and four of his wives and is written alternatively between all their perspectives and stories. Much of the story flipped between his 2nd wife and 5th wife (Dot!), as well as Mauser. The book really picked up about halfway through when the four ex-wives came together and started sharing their stories with each other as they relate to their relationships with Mauser. And it was fascinating to get inside the minds of four very different people. I found Mauser extremely frustrating. But I loved reading it.
⠀
It’s hard to look at this book as a stand-alone without rating it as it fit into the Love Medicine series as a whole. For that it was an excellent wrap up to the entire collection, by filling in story holes and giving new perspectives. Erdrich is so talented at making you think you know enough about a moment, but revisiting that same scenario in a later book and shifting everything you thought you knew. For that I can’t recommend enough that you read the entire series (chronological or publication order), but they do function as standalones. You’ll just be missing out if you don’t read them all. The choice is yours.
⠀
I was pleasantly surprised to realize this was connected to the Love Medicine series. It was really lovely to be back in the world Erdrich created and deepen connections to characters and aspects of the stories. There was closure for a couple of loose ends from The Bingo Palace that I appreciated. This book was less about the story and more of a deep dive on the characters (which I enjoyed). The book follows John Mauser and four of his wives and is written alternatively between all their perspectives and stories. Much of the story flipped between his 2nd wife and 5th wife (Dot!), as well as Mauser. The book really picked up about halfway through when the four ex-wives came together and started sharing their stories with each other as they relate to their relationships with Mauser. And it was fascinating to get inside the minds of four very different people. I found Mauser extremely frustrating. But I loved reading it.
⠀
It’s hard to look at this book as a stand-alone without rating it as it fit into the Love Medicine series as a whole. For that it was an excellent wrap up to the entire collection, by filling in story holes and giving new perspectives. Erdrich is so talented at making you think you know enough about a moment, but revisiting that same scenario in a later book and shifting everything you thought you knew. For that I can’t recommend enough that you read the entire series (chronological or publication order), but they do function as standalones. You’ll just be missing out if you don’t read them all. The choice is yours.
dcorki's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jillde2a1's review against another edition
2.0
I'm halfway through the book and am still not quite sure what it's about. I think it could easily be two separate novels.
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