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mirabecker 's review for:
All Summer Long
by Dorothea Benton Frank
I read this book expecting a genuine, moving story, and what I got was an annotated gossip column.
Wonder why my expectations were so off? Take a look at the Goodreads description of the book:
"Dorothea Benton Frank novels are filled with smart and witty fiction that every reader wants on their bookshelf: soulful, edgy stories about realistic characters familiar to us all that explore the most deeply felt moments of life with wry humor and heart"
The description goes on to describe this book as exploring the sacrifices and compromises we make for love and blah blah blah it's all absolute bullshit. This book is the furthest thing from "soulful." Most of the book was comprised of Olivia, the main character, watching and commenting on the catty behavior of a handful of rich and jealous women. Don't get me wrong, she's absolutely correct in her judgement of other characters, but I came to read the story of an aging couple struggling to adjust to a slower lifestyle, not of flat characters all bitching about each other. I honestly didn't realize there was even a plot until maybe halfway through the book. The dynamics between the main characters - main characters! - were feeble at best, completely unbelievable at worst. They were so fake that I'm not even convinced Olivia and her husband, Nick, would've liked each other had they been real people. The only reason I gave this two stars instead of one is because if you're gonna gossip, do it well, and you know what, Olivia was spot on in her judgements, and I appreciate that.
Wonder why my expectations were so off? Take a look at the Goodreads description of the book:
"Dorothea Benton Frank novels are filled with smart and witty fiction that every reader wants on their bookshelf: soulful, edgy stories about realistic characters familiar to us all that explore the most deeply felt moments of life with wry humor and heart"
The description goes on to describe this book as exploring the sacrifices and compromises we make for love and blah blah blah it's all absolute bullshit. This book is the furthest thing from "soulful." Most of the book was comprised of Olivia, the main character, watching and commenting on the catty behavior of a handful of rich and jealous women. Don't get me wrong, she's absolutely correct in her judgement of other characters, but I came to read the story of an aging couple struggling to adjust to a slower lifestyle, not of flat characters all bitching about each other. I honestly didn't realize there was even a plot until maybe halfway through the book. The dynamics between the main characters - main characters! - were feeble at best, completely unbelievable at worst. They were so fake that I'm not even convinced Olivia and her husband, Nick, would've liked each other had they been real people. The only reason I gave this two stars instead of one is because if you're gonna gossip, do it well, and you know what, Olivia was spot on in her judgements, and I appreciate that.