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wendy_cathcart's review against another edition
3.0
I really expected to like this book after reading the description. In fact, my mother read it first and told me it seemed like a book that I would enjoy... and I did, until I got to the end. It was well-written, if a little slow moving, and it kept me wondering what Kitty would learn from the next dream. However, it all fell apart at the end. To be completely truthful, there were some points in the narrative that fell flat or didn't seem authentic or believable. I probably would not recommend this one.
Spoiler
I had two main problems with the ending.First, I was very disappointed that the Frieda of pretty much the entire book was only nice and a good friend to Kitty because her sub-conscious made her kinder than she was. The other and even bigger problem was that I could not believe that Frieda, as a single woman in the early 60's, went from having no money to even fund moving the bookstore to having capital for six bookstores and an office building in the span of 3 years. No way could that happen.thekatiefu's review against another edition
2.0
In theory, the premise of this book sounded interesting. In practice, it didn't deliver for me. For about the first 75% of the book, it felt like it was going nowhere: just back and forth between the "real world" and the "dream world" just setting the stage without much clear direction. Then the point finally became clear, and it felt like the plot was only taking place in that last 25%; it was a lot at once and felt rushed. I recognize the author left certain explanations unexplained intentionally, but having those questions unanswered felt unsettling and hokey for me. I also believe it was intentional to match the culture of the times (the 1950s and 60s) to the treatment of certain social issues, though that certainly didn't make me feel any better about who those were dealt with. Overall, it left me underwhelmed, kind of bored, and ultimately annoyed.
siren224's review against another edition
3.0
هل يجب أن أكتب مراجعة لكل كتاب؟!
صدمتني الرواية لدرجة لا تسعفني الكلمات
توقعت ان حياة منهما حقيقية وتمنيت أن تكون حياة كيتي
فكرة فقد شخص ما عزيز لدرجة أن عقلك يلاعبك ويخلق لك حياة أخري تكون سعيد فيها فكرة مرعبة
دائما نتمني حياة أخري ونحلم بها في صحونا ولكن هل لو أتيحت لنا تلك الحياة الأخري المثالية سنشعر بالسعادة التي نتوقعها؟ أشك حقا في ذلك
رواية جميلة
تنقلت الكاتبة بسلاسة بين الحياتين
الترجمة سيئة للأسف
أخيرا لا تقل أبدا مستعد أن أخسر أي شيء ليكون لدي كذا
ربما تفجع بتلك الخسارة…..
صدمتني الرواية لدرجة لا تسعفني الكلمات
توقعت ان حياة منهما حقيقية وتمنيت أن تكون حياة كيتي
فكرة فقد شخص ما عزيز لدرجة أن عقلك يلاعبك ويخلق لك حياة أخري تكون سعيد فيها فكرة مرعبة
دائما نتمني حياة أخري ونحلم بها في صحونا ولكن هل لو أتيحت لنا تلك الحياة الأخري المثالية سنشعر بالسعادة التي نتوقعها؟ أشك حقا في ذلك
رواية جميلة
تنقلت الكاتبة بسلاسة بين الحياتين
الترجمة سيئة للأسف
أخيرا لا تقل أبدا مستعد أن أخسر أي شيء ليكون لدي كذا
ربما تفجع بتلك الخسارة…..
dannb's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
Interesting... don't quite know how to articulate my "feeling" about it.
1. It's a little too repetitive... I wish authors trusted that their readers can follow the story without them reminding us of what they have already shared... it also makes the story too predictable.
2. Even if it's technically accurate for the time, I found myself wondering too often if it was... for the smallest, essentially insignificant details... (e.g, a brown sweatsuit for a child in 1962... sweatsuits were all gray and only worn by athletes then?) Therefore, I was really distracted... I know, that's a "me issue."
1. It's a little too repetitive... I wish authors trusted that their readers can follow the story without them reminding us of what they have already shared... it also makes the story too predictable.
2. Even if it's technically accurate for the time, I found myself wondering too often if it was... for the smallest, essentially insignificant details... (e.g, a brown sweatsuit for a child in 1962... sweatsuits were all gray and only worn by athletes then?) Therefore, I was really distracted... I know, that's a "me issue."
xhenetaa's review against another edition
5.0
This is a story about a woman who owns a bookshop with her friend Frieda. When sleeping, she finds herself in another world where she is married and has 3 kids. She starts enjoying this world and thinks it is a perfect world, the world she is living in. Slowly, flaws begin to show and she realizes that it actually isn't a really perfect world. Which it makes it more real to me. There are problems happening in the family, changes in her attitude, her distance from her very best friend...and other events that I would very much suggest it to ya'll to read it.
Let's get a bit spoilery!
I linked all this story to defense mechanisms because I think they explain this story very well. 1.Regression, which is a defense mechanism leading to the temporary or long-term reversion of the ego to an earlier stage of development rather than handling unacceptable impulses in a more adaptive way. So, I think her parents' death made her go to an early phase in her life even though it wasn't completely the way her life was before and some details were added. I think her parents' death caused her too much stress to handle so she went back to a time when she felt saver, better and a time where her parents were alive. 2.Denial which is the refusal to accept reality or fact, acting as if a painful event, thought or feeling did not exist. She refuses to accept this reality and acts as her real life events didn't actually happen and that her mind was making it up.
Sounds confusing but once you read it, it makes sense.
I loved the plot twist very much and was very astonished by it.
Truly, a wonderful read!
Let's get a bit spoilery!
I linked all this story to defense mechanisms because I think they explain this story very well. 1.Regression, which is a defense mechanism leading to the temporary or long-term reversion of the ego to an earlier stage of development rather than handling unacceptable impulses in a more adaptive way. So, I think her parents' death made her go to an early phase in her life even though it wasn't completely the way her life was before and some details were added. I think her parents' death caused her too much stress to handle so she went back to a time when she felt saver, better and a time where her parents were alive. 2.Denial which is the refusal to accept reality or fact, acting as if a painful event, thought or feeling did not exist. She refuses to accept this reality and acts as her real life events didn't actually happen and that her mind was making it up.
Sounds confusing but once you read it, it makes sense.
I loved the plot twist very much and was very astonished by it.
Truly, a wonderful read!
maryeverettb's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
ruthmittiga's review against another edition
5.0
I found this book to be extremely engrossing. Even when I am really into a book, it often takes me at least a week to finish, but in this case, I started Friday evening, and finished Saturday. I would like to give a shout out to my second job (comapany name redacted) where I do very little so basically had two six hour shifts that I could mainly devote to reading.
This book was cool because it takes place in Denver and she mentions a lot of streets and plazas and even libraries. I have recently moved to Denver so it was cool to read about these locations and be able to imagine where they were. In particular a shopping plaza that was mentioned because it's one I drive by and shop at regularly and today it is a run down dump. It's easy to forget that all the crappy shopping centers we use today were once cutting edge shopping experiences 50 or 60 years ago. Also a cemetery was mentioned (I don't want to give more details on the context), but I live right near that cemetery!
Another thing I liked about this book was that there is a bit of a twist towards the end which I started suspecting shortly before it was confirmed. It was a much better plot twist than in the Lisa books I can't stop reading.
Also I briefly debated making up a life with a husband and children in my dreams since no one wants to impregnate me in the real world so maybe I should just be nutty and make up a family.
Lastly, this book was definitely worth the two or three month hold you are probably experiencing if you placed it on hold from the Denver Library.
This book was cool because it takes place in Denver and she mentions a lot of streets and plazas and even libraries. I have recently moved to Denver so it was cool to read about these locations and be able to imagine where they were. In particular a shopping plaza that was mentioned because it's one I drive by and shop at regularly and today it is a run down dump. It's easy to forget that all the crappy shopping centers we use today were once cutting edge shopping experiences 50 or 60 years ago. Also a cemetery was mentioned (I don't want to give more details on the context), but I live right near that cemetery!
Another thing I liked about this book was that there is a bit of a twist towards the end which I started suspecting shortly before it was confirmed. It was a much better plot twist than in the Lisa books I can't stop reading.
Also I briefly debated making up a life with a husband and children in my dreams since no one wants to impregnate me in the real world so maybe I should just be nutty and make up a family.
Lastly, this book was definitely worth the two or three month hold you are probably experiencing if you placed it on hold from the Denver Library.
grinberit's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this one, even though most of my book club weren't huge fans. Mainly I liked the unique concept, but there were definitely points where the book dragged on...and on and on.... I found it fairly predictable after about halfway through, but before that I really enjoyed it.
lesserjoke's review against another edition
4.0
A rather haunting Sliding Doors-type story about a woman who starts having realistic dreams about an alternate life she could be living if some small moment from her past had gone differently. In one life she's married with children and in the other she runs a small bookstore with a friend, and as she flits back and forth between these two existences, she starts to question both which of them is real and which one she would pick to stay in if she could. Although I saw the ending coming, the storytelling was so masterful that I still really liked watching it all unfold.