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_sarahroeder's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Mental illness and Suicide attempt
Minor: Homophobia
taural41's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
There were aspects of the book that I didn’t love - mostly the treatment of sex, which was basically always reduced to “being fun” when, given the nature of the story, it could have been used in a much deeper way, the unnecessarily negative and frankly inaccurate depictions of religion (if Rose really was “Catholic to the bone”, she would have know that Julia and William’s marriage was textbook grounds for annulment - and the story of St. Clare is literally one of a young girl throwing her life away to hide in a cloister for the rest of her life). Finally, the descriptions of Chicago (especially the geography) were very confusing and distracting. As someone who has lived in Chicago for about 15 years, hearing about characters casually walking the FIVE HOUR walk between Pilsen and Northwestern’s campus made no sense. Perhaps Pilsen was more Italian in the 80s and 90s, but today it is much more associated with Latinx communities (especially the church that is mentioned over and over again), and it took me an embarrassing number of pages to realize that the Padavano girls were Italian and not Latina.
This is definitely a book that “tells” more than “shows” when it comes to plot - it will drive some readers crazy, but I enjoyed it. I also really ended up loving the weird dynamics happening between truth and memory and story. For example, a main premise of the book is that the Padavano family is extremely close - then we learn how Charlie and Rose are essentially checked out of their marriage and don’t understand each other at all, how Rose has completely cut them off from any extended family, who are portrayed briefly as “enemies” and then never re-appear. Similarly, the living Charlie we meet in the first few chapters is shown to be a disconnected dreamer who has turned to alcoholism out of the shame of not providing for his family, and yet after his death we hear story after story that essentially treats him as a saint and the one person who truly saw, loved, and understood each one of his daughters. Finally, the sisters who are so close that they are described throughout as sharing one body go decades without ever communicating.
Many other reviews mention frustration with the repeated poor choices of the characters and especially William’s actions towards Alice. I actually loved the Alice story-line and appreciated how the author demonstrated the truth that the ways we seal up and harden are hearts in an attempt to protect ourselves from pain always backfire and bring about the very thing we were trying to avoid. For William, he was trying to avoid the pain of losing another little girl, and he ended up losing his daughter. He was also trying to protect her from the “damage” he felt he was bound to do to her, but absence ended up shaping and hurting her just as much. For Julia, her commitment to protecting Alice and making sure Julia was the only one she ever needed left Alice in a weird relational void and ultimately was the set up for Alice’s realization that she was raised to “not need anyone” and that included Julia. For Alice, her attempts to protect her heart from further pain after she learns of the death of her father as a little girl ends up bringing her the pain of isolation and withholding herself from the loving, messy experiences and relationships that we are meant for. I LOVED mulling all of these thoughts over and thinking deeply about the characters’ motivations and choices. Again, many painful and frankly poor choices were made, but I feel like I can understand why they all did what they did, and I love when a book can do that for me.
Graphic: Suicide attempt and Cancer
Moderate: Child death, Death, and Pregnancy
Minor: Alcohol, Homophobia, and Sexual content
jegan4's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer, Abandonment, and Death
Minor: Homophobia, Racism, Child death, and Alcoholism
shae_reads's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Mental illness, Death of parent, Grief, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, and Death
Minor: Homophobia, Medical content, Pregnancy, Cancer, and Terminal illness
kwakkttkw's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Suicide attempt
Minor: Homophobia
lexcellent's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Cancer, Child death, Death, Grief, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Car accident, Racism, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia
vanessatombolini's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Lesbophobia, Death of parent, Child death, Cancer, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Pregnancy, Grief, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Chronic illness, Cursing, Abandonment, Child abuse, Homophobia, Classism, Mental illness, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Alcohol, Drug use, Sexual content, Medical content, Sexual harassment, War, and Infidelity
torturedreadersdept's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child death, Dysphoria, Grief, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Cancer, Abandonment, Alcohol, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Terminal illness
Minor: Drug abuse, Infertility, and Sexual content
morganu24's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Homophobia
jamiemamie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy
Minor: Homophobia and Suicidal thoughts