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A review by sam_writes_stuff
How Does that Make You Feel, Magda Eklund? by Anna Montague
Did not finish book. Stopped at 0%.
Picture this. You work for a publishing house and senior protagonists are having a moment. From "Thursday Murder Club" to "Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers" to "The Life Impossible," being 60+ is the new 30. So when another new title featuring a senior protagonist crosses your desk, how do you market it?
Simple: look for parallels to another much-loved title and run with it. Lo and behold, your publishing house is also the one behind "Remarkably Bright Creatures," and that title also has a senior woman as its lead. Bingo--the profits will speak for themselves!
Sadly, I was not the only one fooled by the blurb making this comparison, along with its promises of humor and implied cheekiness of its cover design. In fact, the only things "Remarkably Bright Creatures" and this book have in common are the fact they both feature a senior woman working through grief. From there, the connections vanish and you are left holding a book that is very likely not going to meet your expectations. Truthfully, the promises made felt dishonest and definitely seemed like a marketing ploy to sell more copies of a book to capitalize on a trend.
This felt like a Serious Book that draws the occasional half-smirk. You know the type: it is likely not a book that will elicit joy, but it would end up on many high-brow "best of" lists anyway. In fact, as I found myself giving up on this one, I thought of one of my favorite quotes from the recent show "Reboot." In it, Keegan-Michael Key's character, an actor, is talking about a script he just read and makes a very timely joke about the state of the modern sitcom:
Simple: look for parallels to another much-loved title and run with it. Lo and behold, your publishing house is also the one behind "Remarkably Bright Creatures," and that title also has a senior woman as its lead. Bingo--the profits will speak for themselves!
Sadly, I was not the only one fooled by the blurb making this comparison, along with its promises of humor and implied cheekiness of its cover design. In fact, the only things "Remarkably Bright Creatures" and this book have in common are the fact they both feature a senior woman working through grief. From there, the connections vanish and you are left holding a book that is very likely not going to meet your expectations. Truthfully, the promises made felt dishonest and definitely seemed like a marketing ploy to sell more copies of a book to capitalize on a trend.
This felt like a Serious Book that draws the occasional half-smirk. You know the type: it is likely not a book that will elicit joy, but it would end up on many high-brow "best of" lists anyway. In fact, as I found myself giving up on this one, I thought of one of my favorite quotes from the recent show "Reboot." In it, Keegan-Michael Key's character, an actor, is talking about a script he just read and makes a very timely joke about the state of the modern sitcom:
"Here's what's brilliant. It is both the funniest thing you've ever read, and you won't laugh once."
I feel like that is exactly the vibe "Magda Eklund" is going for. And you know, that might land for some people! But if you're going into this expecting the same warmth and humor as "Remarkably Bright Creatures," then you're probably going to be disappointed. Personally, I am annoyed that this is not the first time this year a blurb did not match the tone of the book whatsoever (see "The Ministry of Time," the "time travel romance/workplace comedy/spy thriller" that really struggled to be all of those things).
"Magda" was not for me and I think it will find a home in my Little Free Library so someone else can hopefully enjoy it. And hey, at least the purchase helped support my local indie bookseller!