Take a photo of a barcode or cover
laurenabayne 's review for:
Not Quite by the Book
by Julie Hatcher
Unfortunately, Not Quite by the Book was Not Quite a good Book.
I love a coming-of-age for women in their thirties. I love the premise of her taking a much-needed vacation and experiencing growth both personally and romantically. The relation to Emily Dickinson, the discussion of her as both a woman to admire but not to emulate, was wonderful and a great exploration of the modern views of classics. The letter-writing classes added some flair, especially in how Emma bonds with others in her class and in her small town. Emma's best friend was a riot too, and I hope she gets her own story with the reality TV show.
Maybe other people find Emma to be an enjoyable character, but there was a lot I couldn't get past. She was repetitive in her problems, incompetent, and self-absorbed. Maybe she was supposed to be an unlikable character that grows on you as she comes of age, but that didn't come across to me.
Side note: in my ARC copy, the author switched back and forth between saying Emma would be on vacation for 30 days and 6 weeks. Yikes. It also read like the author has never been to Massachusetts. She talks about how terrible things are for independent bookstore owners in Mass, but there is a thriving community of indie bookstores that are continuing to grow.
If you can get past these things, then you'll love this book. But it wasn't quite for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.
I love a coming-of-age for women in their thirties. I love the premise of her taking a much-needed vacation and experiencing growth both personally and romantically. The relation to Emily Dickinson, the discussion of her as both a woman to admire but not to emulate, was wonderful and a great exploration of the modern views of classics. The letter-writing classes added some flair, especially in how Emma bonds with others in her class and in her small town. Emma's best friend was a riot too, and I hope she gets her own story with the reality TV show.
Maybe other people find Emma to be an enjoyable character, but there was a lot I couldn't get past. She was repetitive in her problems, incompetent, and self-absorbed. Maybe she was supposed to be an unlikable character that grows on you as she comes of age, but that didn't come across to me.
Side note: in my ARC copy, the author switched back and forth between saying Emma would be on vacation for 30 days and 6 weeks. Yikes. It also read like the author has never been to Massachusetts. She talks about how terrible things are for independent bookstore owners in Mass, but there is a thriving community of indie bookstores that are continuing to grow.
If you can get past these things, then you'll love this book. But it wasn't quite for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.