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A review by 00leah00
Like a House on Fire by Lauren McBrayer
4.0
I have to say that “Like a House on Fire” by Lauren McBrayer surprised me by how much I ended up enjoying it. I saw some of the early ratings and it discouraged me from reading it right away. In the end I was glad I did and will be on the lookout for more from her.
I want to say up front that I don’t think this will be everyone’s cup of tea. First off, there’s cheating and I know that’s a big deal for a lot of people. Also, this isn’t a romance although there is a romance in it and the romance is important to the main character, Merit. This is more a woman coming out later in life after realizing how unhappy she is with her life.
What I found interesting is that I didn’t find any of the characters particularly likeable although I didn’t hate them either. They were all kind of messy and felt like real people, and obviously it was enough to compel me to want to read all the way through to the end. Neither Cory, Merit’s husband or Jane, Merit’s boss, were completely fleshed out so it’s hard to say with them and I also didn’t trust Merit’s voice all the time. This is told her from her point of view so her issues with her husband come from a place of miscommunication/lack of communication almost all of the time. He comes across as pretty checked out while at home but who knows if that’s true or just how Merit sees him.
There were a couple of issues for me. The pacing and how much time between chapters wasn’t always clear to me. The book spans several years and that isn’t always my favorite because I feel like we miss some important things. I also had a small issue with the ending. It felt sudden and then there’s an epilogue set 5 years later so we find out what happens but not how. I wanted to know the how! Especially after going through several years of these people’s lives.
Like I said, in the end, I really enjoyed this and hope we get more sapphic stories from McBrayer in the future.
I received an ARC from Penguin Group Putnam via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I want to say up front that I don’t think this will be everyone’s cup of tea. First off, there’s cheating and I know that’s a big deal for a lot of people. Also, this isn’t a romance although there is a romance in it and the romance is important to the main character, Merit. This is more a woman coming out later in life after realizing how unhappy she is with her life.
What I found interesting is that I didn’t find any of the characters particularly likeable although I didn’t hate them either. They were all kind of messy and felt like real people, and obviously it was enough to compel me to want to read all the way through to the end. Neither Cory, Merit’s husband or Jane, Merit’s boss, were completely fleshed out so it’s hard to say with them and I also didn’t trust Merit’s voice all the time. This is told her from her point of view so her issues with her husband come from a place of miscommunication/lack of communication almost all of the time. He comes across as pretty checked out while at home but who knows if that’s true or just how Merit sees him.
There were a couple of issues for me. The pacing and how much time between chapters wasn’t always clear to me. The book spans several years and that isn’t always my favorite because I feel like we miss some important things. I also had a small issue with the ending. It felt sudden and then there’s an epilogue set 5 years later so we find out what happens but not how. I wanted to know the how! Especially after going through several years of these people’s lives.
Like I said, in the end, I really enjoyed this and hope we get more sapphic stories from McBrayer in the future.
I received an ARC from Penguin Group Putnam via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.