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mayarelmahdy's review against another edition
4.0
أنا محبطة نوعًا ما بسبب النهاية، بس مش بسبب عيب فـ الرواية الحقيقة، تغيير الواقع بتاعي مش مبرر لإني أكرهها.
كيتي بطلة الرواية عندها حياتين، الصبح عندها مكتبة عن فريدا و عيلة بتحبها و قطة، و بالليل في الأحلام عندها عيلتها، جوزها و ولادهم التلاتة و بيتها الكبير و حياتها المستقرة.
في البداية بتحب حياتها في الأحلام جدًا، لحد ما تكتشف إنها فقدت حاجات كتير في العالم دة، و بتوصل للنهاية اللي متوقعتهاش الحقيقة.
كيتي بطلة الرواية عندها حياتين، الصبح عندها مكتبة عن فريدا و عيلة بتحبها و قطة، و بالليل في الأحلام عندها عيلتها، جوزها و ولادهم التلاتة و بيتها الكبير و حياتها المستقرة.
في البداية بتحب حياتها في الأحلام جدًا، لحد ما تكتشف إنها فقدت حاجات كتير في العالم دة، و بتوصل للنهاية اللي متوقعتهاش الحقيقة.
dominicanbookworm's review against another edition
2.0
Sigh.
Me empezó gustando el libro, pero al final fue un nope nope. Empezó siendo una cosa y terminó siendo otra totalmente diferente, lo que no es necesariamente malo pero en este caso no funcionó IMO (pensé que era un romance por como empezó y lol no). Además de que la manera en que manejaron el tema del autismo en este libro me pareció fatal.
Bleh.
Algo positivo es que la narradora del audiobook hace un gran trabajo, me hizo engancharme con la historia a pesar de que no me gustó mucho como se terminó desarrollando.
Me empezó gustando el libro, pero al final fue un nope nope. Empezó siendo una cosa y terminó siendo otra totalmente diferente, lo que no es necesariamente malo pero en este caso no funcionó IMO (pensé que era un romance por como empezó y lol no). Además de que la manera en que manejaron el tema del autismo en este libro me pareció fatal.
Bleh.
Algo positivo es que la narradora del audiobook hace un gran trabajo, me hizo engancharme con la historia a pesar de que no me gustó mucho como se terminó desarrollando.
deborah_ann's review against another edition
4.0
A 'Sliding Doors' type story. A single, 30 year old co-owner of a bookstore starts having vivid dreams of being married with children.
Kitty's single life seems a little sad; everyday the same, spending all her time with her cat and with Frieda, her bff from her school days and co-owner of the bookstore that hardly anyone shops, no boyfriend and a deep attachment to her parents at the age of 30. Reading this, you just wanted something more for her.
Every night Kitty has dreams about being 'Kathryn', married with children and yet this life has challenges too. In this world, she has a violent, autistic son that she homeschools.
A great story that explores "what if" circumstances had been just a little different.
Lots of discussion material in this one!
SPOILER STARTS BELOW:
The story tension comes from building confusion over which life is a dream and which is reality. In the end, Kitty wakes up to the reality that everything in her single life is just a little too easy, a little too convenient. She slowly hints about this reality when she realizes that she is missing whole days in her single life that she can't account for. What's unique about this story is that there are no traditional villains in this book - the real villain is Kitty's grief over losing her parents who die suddenly in a plane crash & losing the friendship of her bff and co-bookstore owner, Frieda, and the challenges of raising her autistic son. Kitty is able to "hold it together" during the Christmas holidays, but once life returns to normal, the triumvirate of grief overwhelms Kitty and she escapes her married life, into a single dream life, where things are a little easier and less complicated.
In the end, Kitty realizes her single life is the dream world and she's able to start to come to peace with her parents death and make amends with Frieda and finds a way to reach her autistic son.
It's all in how we deal with what we're dealt. We can't control the accidents (deaths) or the unexpected (autism) that come into our lives.
Kitty's single life seems a little sad; everyday the same, spending all her time with her cat and with Frieda, her bff from her school days and co-owner of the bookstore that hardly anyone shops, no boyfriend and a deep attachment to her parents at the age of 30. Reading this, you just wanted something more for her.
Every night Kitty has dreams about being 'Kathryn', married with children and yet this life has challenges too. In this world, she has a violent, autistic son that she homeschools.
A great story that explores "what if" circumstances had been just a little different.
Lots of discussion material in this one!
SPOILER STARTS BELOW:
The story tension comes from building confusion over which life is a dream and which is reality. In the end, Kitty wakes up to the reality that everything in her single life is just a little too easy, a little too convenient. She slowly hints about this reality when she realizes that she is missing whole days in her single life that she can't account for. What's unique about this story is that there are no traditional villains in this book - the real villain is Kitty's grief over losing her parents who die suddenly in a plane crash & losing the friendship of her bff and co-bookstore owner, Frieda, and the challenges of raising her autistic son. Kitty is able to "hold it together" during the Christmas holidays, but once life returns to normal, the triumvirate of grief overwhelms Kitty and she escapes her married life, into a single dream life, where things are a little easier and less complicated.
In the end, Kitty realizes her single life is the dream world and she's able to start to come to peace with her parents death and make amends with Frieda and finds a way to reach her autistic son.
It's all in how we deal with what we're dealt. We can't control the accidents (deaths) or the unexpected (autism) that come into our lives.
codynjess's review against another edition
5.0
It’s been almost two years and I’m still thinking about this book. It has really stuck with me. I highly recommend this book.
shoaib's review against another edition
3.0
هل يمكن للمرء الإقتناع ان احلامه هي واقعه و العكس تمامًا إذا ظل يحلم نفس الحلم بأحداث متتالية كلما خلد إلى النوم ؟؟
يحكى الكتاب قصة "كيتي" صاحبة محل كتب الأخوات مع صديقة عمرها فريدا و صراعهما للإبقاء على مكتبتهما تعمل على الرغم من ركود سوق العمل
عندما تخلد كيتي للنوم تحلم بحياة اخرى مغايرة عن حياتها التي تحياها وتستمر تلك الاحلام بزيارتها حتى تتوقف عن الإستطاعة على التفريق بين حياتها و احلامها
الرواية قطعة كبيرة من الحزن و القصة فكرتها جيدة لكن السرد ... ياإلهي .. قد تكون اكتر احداث مملة اضطررت ان اقرأها لهذا اخذت مني وقت اطول من المعتاد للإنتهاء من رواية بمثل هذا الحجم
يحكى الكتاب قصة "كيتي" صاحبة محل كتب الأخوات مع صديقة عمرها فريدا و صراعهما للإبقاء على مكتبتهما تعمل على الرغم من ركود سوق العمل
عندما تخلد كيتي للنوم تحلم بحياة اخرى مغايرة عن حياتها التي تحياها وتستمر تلك الاحلام بزيارتها حتى تتوقف عن الإستطاعة على التفريق بين حياتها و احلامها
الرواية قطعة كبيرة من الحزن و القصة فكرتها جيدة لكن السرد ... ياإلهي .. قد تكون اكتر احداث مملة اضطررت ان اقرأها لهذا اخذت مني وقت اطول من المعتاد للإنتهاء من رواية بمثل هذا الحجم
perry417's review against another edition
2.0
This was quite simply not a great book, and earns two stars instead of just one only because the pacing of the kept me interested enough to read the book quickly. It was at times hugely predictable, at times enormously inconsistent, and at times just plain boring. The more I read, frankly the more annoyed I became.
So much of this book is the same familiar "what if I had made a different choice at this one tiny moment, my whole life would have gone in a different direction." Why do I give this type of story chance after chance when it usually bugs me so? Ugh. This book seemed to have a promise of a twist to it, a bit of the unreliable narrator (one of my favorite literary tricks), and a bit of a mystery... but then it didn't really go anywhere. Just... nothing.
And though I so often love reading about American women in the 1960s ... the parts about her guilt over not being there for her autistic son were ridiculously dated and poorly developed. I couldn't help but make a mental comparison to Mad Men -- that show was able to capture women's experiences in a historically accurate way while still having a grounding in what we know and experience today (Betty and Sally's mother-daughter relationship). This book, and this particular story line about Michael, really didn't have any of that nuance or sophistication.
Hmm. I think if I could give one and a half stars I might.
So much of this book is the same familiar "what if I had made a different choice at this one tiny moment, my whole life would have gone in a different direction." Why do I give this type of story chance after chance when it usually bugs me so? Ugh. This book seemed to have a promise of a twist to it, a bit of the unreliable narrator (one of my favorite literary tricks), and a bit of a mystery... but then it didn't really go anywhere. Just... nothing.
And though I so often love reading about American women in the 1960s ... the parts about her guilt over not being there for her autistic son were ridiculously dated and poorly developed. I couldn't help but make a mental comparison to Mad Men -- that show was able to capture women's experiences in a historically accurate way while still having a grounding in what we know and experience today (Betty and Sally's mother-daughter relationship). This book, and this particular story line about Michael, really didn't have any of that nuance or sophistication.
Hmm. I think if I could give one and a half stars I might.
cheryl1213's review against another edition
2.0
Meet Kitty, an independent and quirky woman who co-owns a small bookshop with her best friend in Denver in the early 1960s. She paints her bedroom a cheery bright yellow, eagerly anticipates a daily note from her mother who is on an extended trip to Hawaii, and acts like she’s given up on love but is a hopeless romantic at heart. When she falls asleep she enters a dream world, one set apart in Sliding Doors fashion by just one altered moment that makes a world of difference. Here she’s Katherine, wife and devoted mother navigating a busy social scene that is notably missing some of the most important people in Kitty’s world. Katherine’s story includes a bit of a twist that provides insight into some major societal changes over the past 50-ish years.
I wanted to like this so much more than I did. It had some interesting themes and touched on some issues of major significance but still felt a bit too “fluffy.” I wanted a bit more seriousness than I got and major elements simply didn’t feel realistic (ex. Katherine’s all-too-perfect husband). While I try not to judge a book solely by its ending, the conclusion to this one was a sharp disappointment that clouds my opinion. Two (maybe 2.5 since I didn’t struggle to finish it like most two star books) stars (of five). “Chic lit” with a gloss on some serious issues. Advance reader copy supplied by publisher in return for honest review.
I wanted to like this so much more than I did. It had some interesting themes and touched on some issues of major significance but still felt a bit too “fluffy.” I wanted a bit more seriousness than I got and major elements simply didn’t feel realistic (ex. Katherine’s all-too-perfect husband). While I try not to judge a book solely by its ending, the conclusion to this one was a sharp disappointment that clouds my opinion. Two (maybe 2.5 since I didn’t struggle to finish it like most two star books) stars (of five). “Chic lit” with a gloss on some serious issues. Advance reader copy supplied by publisher in return for honest review.
ciska's review against another edition
4.0
*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in return for an honest review*
This is one of the best double story books I read. It kept me wondering for a long time what was real and what not. I did guess what the trigger was but it still did not tell me what was real and what not. I had to wait till the end of the book to get answers to all of my questions.
Kitty/ Katharyn her confusion is in every page. This makes it easy to cheer for her for finding the truth. In both lives she does make mistakes making her human for both stories. It made me wonder if there was a twin or something. Frieda and Lars and other people in both stories are more important for the interaction they have with her than as their own character.
Helen from My Novel Opinion made the reading list for this book.
Now we just need a playlist with all the great music named in this book.
This is one of the best double story books I read. It kept me wondering for a long time what was real and what not. I did guess what the trigger was but it still did not tell me what was real and what not. I had to wait till the end of the book to get answers to all of my questions.
Kitty/ Katharyn her confusion is in every page. This makes it easy to cheer for her for finding the truth. In both lives she does make mistakes making her human for both stories. It made me wonder if there was a twin or something. Frieda and Lars and other people in both stories are more important for the interaction they have with her than as their own character.
Helen from My Novel Opinion made the reading list for this book.
Now we just need a playlist with all the great music named in this book.
lynburn's review against another edition
4.0
I picked this book based on the cover alone (yes, I do judge a book by its cover). It was interesting, and not bad for a first book. I gave it four stars since I couldn't give it 3.5 stars.
bethreadsandnaps's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this one. Set in the early 1960s, Kitty is a bookstore owner with her friend Frieda. Close with her parents, she enjoys a peaceful life although her business isn't going well. While sleeping one night, she enters an alternate reality where she has a husband and children although she has separated from her business partner and friend Frieda. Going forth between these two different lives, Kitty/Katharyn realizes that there's no such thing as a "perfect" life.
I connected with the main character, as she's quiet and unassuming--one of those who is perfectly fine fading into the background. The novel is a bit disorienting because you're not really sure what's going on sometimes. While the backdrop is the 1960s and explored a small amount of race issues (minority as her housekeeper in her suburban life), it only very lightly touched on feminism. It also could have focused more on Kitty's inner dialogue. The way it was written implied passivity--to her character, to the story, everything.
I found it a compelling read despite some minor problems.
I connected with the main character, as she's quiet and unassuming--one of those who is perfectly fine fading into the background. The novel is a bit disorienting because you're not really sure what's going on sometimes. While the backdrop is the 1960s and explored a small amount of race issues (minority as her housekeeper in her suburban life), it only very lightly touched on feminism. It also could have focused more on Kitty's inner dialogue. The way it was written implied passivity--to her character, to the story, everything.
I found it a compelling read despite some minor problems.