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lovelymisanthrope 's review for:
How to Age Disgracefully
by Clare Pooley
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I found this title available on Libby and thought it sounded intriguing, so I picked it up.
"How to Age Disgracefully" follows a cast of characters involved with a senior citizens' center, that shares a building with a daycare. Lydia takes a job running the senior citizen social club, and she is greatly unprepared for the big personalities that she is about to encounter. It seems like every elderly person has led a big life and has some secrets that they are trying to keep hidden. But when the city council threatens to shut down the building, they all decide to ban together to save their center.
I really enjoyed how chaotic this felt at times. Every character felt morally gray in one way or another, and it was really fun to see how unhinged some of them would become. I always enjoy seeing older characters who have simply reached the point in their life where they realize most things do not matter, so they just say f*ck it and do whatever the hell they want. Maybe they exploit their age or position, but at the end of the day who is going to push back on them.
As much as I enjoyed the chaotic energy of these characters, I did feel like I was following too many different people with vastly different stories to truly connect to the story overall. For most of these characters the only thing that really connected them was that they attended this center, so their stories really did not overlap. Because of this, I felt like I simultaneously was reading too many stories to really be invested.
I did think it was poetically beautiful that this senior center shared a building with a daycare. There is one plotline that follows a child from the daycare, and I think this was a great contrast for what was happening with the older characters. The story definitely had its life comes full circle moments.
Overall, this book was fine. I had a fine time reading it, it has its merits, but I probably will not think much about it in the future.
"How to Age Disgracefully" follows a cast of characters involved with a senior citizens' center, that shares a building with a daycare. Lydia takes a job running the senior citizen social club, and she is greatly unprepared for the big personalities that she is about to encounter. It seems like every elderly person has led a big life and has some secrets that they are trying to keep hidden. But when the city council threatens to shut down the building, they all decide to ban together to save their center.
I really enjoyed how chaotic this felt at times. Every character felt morally gray in one way or another, and it was really fun to see how unhinged some of them would become. I always enjoy seeing older characters who have simply reached the point in their life where they realize most things do not matter, so they just say f*ck it and do whatever the hell they want. Maybe they exploit their age or position, but at the end of the day who is going to push back on them.
As much as I enjoyed the chaotic energy of these characters, I did feel like I was following too many different people with vastly different stories to truly connect to the story overall. For most of these characters the only thing that really connected them was that they attended this center, so their stories really did not overlap. Because of this, I felt like I simultaneously was reading too many stories to really be invested.
I did think it was poetically beautiful that this senior center shared a building with a daycare. There is one plotline that follows a child from the daycare, and I think this was a great contrast for what was happening with the older characters. The story definitely had its life comes full circle moments.
Overall, this book was fine. I had a fine time reading it, it has its merits, but I probably will not think much about it in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death