Scan barcode
A review by elerireads
The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo
3.0
Maybe 3 stars is harsh I'm not really sure about this one. A LOT happened, which made it pretty gripping but it also seemed a bit soap-operaish, although that might be unfair really because it covered a large timespan and a lot does happen in families. A deep dissection of the highs and lows of intense sibling relationships - reading it I just knew Lombardo must have a lot of siblings because that kind of dynamic would be impossible to capture so vividly otherwise. I quite liked the premise of all these daughters being fucked up by how perfect their parents' marriage was. The sad/ironic idea that no matter how hard you try and no matter what you manage to get right, your kids will still somehow find a way to blame you for everything wrong with their lives kept cropping up. Now, thinking about it, all that keeps coming into my head is Philip Larkin's "They fuck you up, your mum and dad..."
There's a comment on the front cover about it being a holiday read, and I kind of agree in the sense that my reading experience definitely suffered from bad timing. It made me cry a lot, which might have been good under sunnier, more relaxed circumstances, but reading about a whole load of trauma and family angst is not much fun when you're in the middle of lockdown with your own family and it's cold and dark and everyone is mad-stressed.
There's a comment on the front cover about it being a holiday read, and I kind of agree in the sense that my reading experience definitely suffered from bad timing. It made me cry a lot, which might have been good under sunnier, more relaxed circumstances, but reading about a whole load of trauma and family angst is not much fun when you're in the middle of lockdown with your own family and it's cold and dark and everyone is mad-stressed.