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leanne_who_reads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Holy shit that ending got pretty emotional and I felt deeply for Cilla's loss.
This book is about Cilla struggling to come to terms with the loss of her sister and she had a complicated relationship with her sister, as well as with her parents.
Cilla struggled with a lot of emotions that she didn't want to face and in the end it all came bursting out of her after years of pushing everything down.
I didn't entirely enjoy this book, however, I can appreciate the story for what it is.
This book is about Cilla struggling to come to terms with the loss of her sister and she had a complicated relationship with her sister, as well as with her parents.
Cilla struggled with a lot of emotions that she didn't want to face and in the end it all came bursting out of her after years of pushing everything down.
I didn't entirely enjoy this book, however, I can appreciate the story for what it is.
zzzrevel's review against another edition
2.0
Disappointing.
An immature 40something year old going gaga
over a seventeen year old? Pathetic.
Not a good book.
An immature 40something year old going gaga
over a seventeen year old? Pathetic.
Not a good book.
laura_storyteller's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
amaandaplz's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
2.5
I was so excited for the first 80 or so pages of this book and couldn’t put it down. But it seemed to drag endlessly after that. It felt like the same scenarios and thoughts just repeated over and over on different days and nothing new really happened. Definitely a “no plot just vibes” kind of book, and as much as I wish I had the attention span to really enjoy that kind of writing, it’s usually incredibly rare that I find one I can. I still want to read Catalina though, because it did come close to hitting as the general plot and first third or so of the book did feel right up my alley
niaforrester's review against another edition
3.0
Priscilla "Cilla" Messing was born into a well-known Hollywood family, but her life is now very different than it used to be. Her father and sister, Emily, are dead and she is the sole caretaker for her mother who is temporarily confined to a rehabilitative facility. When one of the nurses mistakes the 43-year-old Cilla for her mother's sister rather than daughter, she considers how such a thing would never have happened to her much more conventionally beautiful sister, Emily, who has only been dead a year. That reminder of her sister becomes almost prescient because shortly thereafter, Cilla's brother-in-law calls from Italy to ask for her help with, Hannah, her niece who seems very much in danger of going off the rails and becoming far too wild.
Italy--away from Hollywood and her mother's illness and other difficult memories--seems like the perfect plan and Cilla eagerly accepts, leaving her mother in the care of her doctors and Guy, Cilla's much older former lover. Once she arrives in Italy, rather than helping to calm her 15-year-old niece down, Cilla gets drawn into her wild life and wide circle of friends, including into the sphere of the strangely magnetic 17-year-old Donato. Somehow, through the long nights, drinking, dancing and flirtation, Cilla begins to lose her very tenuous grasp on control of her life, and must come to terms with what she's become, who she once was, and what she's lost.
While the story was compelling and the writing pretty close to flawless, this felt like a very long short story elongated for purposes of producing a novel. The same situations and realizations played out over and over again, just in new, picturesque Italian locales that showcased the author's ability to create a strong sense of place. By about the midpoint, Cilla had already reached her epiphany (as does the reader) and there seemed to be no further character development or exposition to be had. Still, the book carried on and produced the inevitable climax which felt by then unnecessary.
Recommended for readers of literary and character-driven fiction. Though this was a three-star read for me, it seems unlikely bordering on impossible that an author of this talent produced a "bad" book, so I plan to read her debut novel, 'Catalina'. Another one about a woman ruining and then trying to recover herself. Yay!
Italy--away from Hollywood and her mother's illness and other difficult memories--seems like the perfect plan and Cilla eagerly accepts, leaving her mother in the care of her doctors and Guy, Cilla's much older former lover. Once she arrives in Italy, rather than helping to calm her 15-year-old niece down, Cilla gets drawn into her wild life and wide circle of friends, including into the sphere of the strangely magnetic 17-year-old Donato. Somehow, through the long nights, drinking, dancing and flirtation, Cilla begins to lose her very tenuous grasp on control of her life, and must come to terms with what she's become, who she once was, and what she's lost.
While the story was compelling and the writing pretty close to flawless, this felt like a very long short story elongated for purposes of producing a novel. The same situations and realizations played out over and over again, just in new, picturesque Italian locales that showcased the author's ability to create a strong sense of place. By about the midpoint, Cilla had already reached her epiphany (as does the reader) and there seemed to be no further character development or exposition to be had. Still, the book carried on and produced the inevitable climax which felt by then unnecessary.
Recommended for readers of literary and character-driven fiction. Though this was a three-star read for me, it seems unlikely bordering on impossible that an author of this talent produced a "bad" book, so I plan to read her debut novel, 'Catalina'. Another one about a woman ruining and then trying to recover herself. Yay!
at_mybookshelf's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
excuseforjuice's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
abby_writes's review against another edition
4.0
Liska Jacobs writes some of the most unlikeable characters I've ever read, and I appreciate her for that.
crystalbrarian's review against another edition
3.0
When reading this story of a middle aged woman’s lust for a much younger man, I find myself judging a woman’s midlife crisis more harshly than a man’s. Or is it (thankfully) that we’re no longer subjected to those as often, given the current climate? (We’ve come a long way, baby?) Maybe I’m over such self-centered navel gazing as a middle aged person myself. The whole notion is a cop out. Who doesn’t want to be young again? Who doesn’t envy those without cares? All in all, Cilla comes off as predatory and pathetic. After all, preying on youth doesn’t make you young again. It damages and prematurely ages the prey, which Cilla knows all too well.
Perhaps my biggest issue is with her shallowness. She resents not being pretty enough and wishes she was still on the scene. Her thoughts are all about appearances and she mopes about being left out of the adults’ conversation. Well, yeah, you’re not going to connect with the middleaged parents of the boy you’re lusting after.
She’s more shallow than her beautiful sister, still wondering what she saw in her nerdy husband. I did not identify with Cilla. In fact, I sort wanted to slap her. There is certainly realism here. Hurt people hurt people, after all. Yet, I’ve never counted it as some kind of feminist victory for a woman to be portrayed as a just as much of a shallow, single-minded abuser as a man can be. I was glad to be rid of Cilla’s point of view when I finished the book, and I look forward to the demise of this trend in female characters.
Perhaps my biggest issue is with her shallowness. She resents not being pretty enough and wishes she was still on the scene. Her thoughts are all about appearances and she mopes about being left out of the adults’ conversation. Well, yeah, you’re not going to connect with the middleaged parents of the boy you’re lusting after.
She’s more shallow than her beautiful sister, still wondering what she saw in her nerdy husband. I did not identify with Cilla. In fact, I sort wanted to slap her. There is certainly realism here. Hurt people hurt people, after all. Yet, I’ve never counted it as some kind of feminist victory for a woman to be portrayed as a just as much of a shallow, single-minded abuser as a man can be. I was glad to be rid of Cilla’s point of view when I finished the book, and I look forward to the demise of this trend in female characters.
sarahbowman101's review against another edition
3.0
Nobody in this book is especially likeable, but it has just enough sun-drenched-Prosecco-soaked scandalousness to make it titillatingly page turning.
40something Cilla Messing, daughter of Hollywood royalty, needs a break from taking care of her aging mother to spend the summer in Rome, taking care for her 14 year old niece. Hannah is struggling with the death of her mother and has been causing trouble for her dad, Paul. Cilla plays the cool aunt, hanging out with her niece and her friends after school, drinking and sunning themselves all over Rome's hot spots. Notably part of the circle is Donato, the 17 year old son of Paul's close colleague. Donato is handsome, flirtatious, and problematic for both Hannah and Cilla.
Cilla's main romantic relationship began when she was 14 to a friend of the family, 20 years her senior and continued to the present day (more or less). So with lack of a healthy relationship to model and her own grief to deal with, reader you will not be surprised when the flirtation between Cilla and Donato grows into something else. I both knew and didn't know where this was going. Cilla is damaged in so many ways and exhibits terrible behavior, but yet this turned out to be the perfect book to read on a plane. I am not sure exactly to whom I would suggest this book, but it was fun reading while it lasted!
40something Cilla Messing, daughter of Hollywood royalty, needs a break from taking care of her aging mother to spend the summer in Rome, taking care for her 14 year old niece. Hannah is struggling with the death of her mother and has been causing trouble for her dad, Paul. Cilla plays the cool aunt, hanging out with her niece and her friends after school, drinking and sunning themselves all over Rome's hot spots. Notably part of the circle is Donato, the 17 year old son of Paul's close colleague. Donato is handsome, flirtatious, and problematic for both Hannah and Cilla.
Cilla's main romantic relationship began when she was 14 to a friend of the family, 20 years her senior and continued to the present day (more or less). So with lack of a healthy relationship to model and her own grief to deal with, reader you will not be surprised when the flirtation between Cilla and Donato grows into something else. I both knew and didn't know where this was going. Cilla is damaged in so many ways and exhibits terrible behavior, but yet this turned out to be the perfect book to read on a plane. I am not sure exactly to whom I would suggest this book, but it was fun reading while it lasted!