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A review by gatzby
The Magic of Ordinary Days by Ann Howard Creel
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
beautiful amazing book that i enjoyed every moment of with kind, well-rounded characters BUT nothing was properly resolved? like, it ended with one of those cheap author cop-outs where everything is quickly wrapped up in the last few paragraphs but you’re left with more questions than not??
livvy should have met up with edward again or he should’ve been killed or SOMETHING. she was so obviously still in love with him and i was almost waiting for her to leave ray and find edward again?that was my biggest issue i think. and i was expecting her and ray to have a slow burn romance but just … nothing happened? it went from ray immediately falling in love with livvy and livvy constantly being like “i want to touch him but i can’t. i want to touch him but i don’t love him. i’m not the right woman for him. this isn’t the life for me” to “i love him and i want to stay here”
ray’s loneliness needed to be explained more, and his and livvy’s relationship needed to have more milestones in it. and what about livvy’s hopes and dreams? how come she was suddenly so okay with her new life after agonizing over it for so long! there needed to be more happenings, more aha moments and emotional growth, and i think the climax should’ve been surrounding the baby’s birth, and maybe that should’ve coincided with the german pow’s arrests? i’m not sure but i do know that the whole plot of rose and lorelei getting into trouble was advertised in the summary and yet it didn’t happen until the literal last minute 🤷♀️
the entire book was a portrait of these complex characters and their complex feelings, just repeated and exampled the whole time, and then BAM — all the character development you could want right there in the last chapter. the payoff was awful and i’m left feeling so unfulfilled! i need some closure!!!!!!
some other things i wish were explored further and resolved: ray’s struggle with showing his emotions and not wanting to cry around livvy, rose and lorelei’s arrest (how awful did their story end?), ray’s reluctance to learn the history of his family and his property, ray’s reluctance to discover any life outside of his farm, livvy’s dream of becoming a history professor or an archeologist, ruth’s admiration of livvy, livvy and ray grieving together and bonding through their losses, livvy and her pregnancy (which was the whole point of the book and yet i feel as if the pregnancy was barely discussed), livvy going from a city life to a country life … need i go on?
so, yeah. this could’ve been so much better if only it had a little structure. it was so close to being perfect! so close!! maybe the movie adaptation will fill in the blanks i’m left with </3
ray’s loneliness needed to be explained more, and his and livvy’s relationship needed to have more milestones in it. and what about livvy’s hopes and dreams? how come she was suddenly so okay with her new life after agonizing over it for so long! there needed to be more happenings, more aha moments and emotional growth, and i think the climax should’ve been surrounding the baby’s birth, and maybe that should’ve coincided with the german pow’s arrests? i’m not sure but i do know that the whole plot of rose and lorelei getting into trouble was advertised in the summary and yet it didn’t happen until the literal last minute 🤷♀️
the entire book was a portrait of these complex characters and their complex feelings, just repeated and exampled the whole time, and then BAM — all the character development you could want right there in the last chapter. the payoff was awful and i’m left feeling so unfulfilled! i need some closure!!!!!!
some other things i wish were explored further and resolved: ray’s struggle with showing his emotions and not wanting to cry around livvy, rose and lorelei’s arrest (how awful did their story end?), ray’s reluctance to learn the history of his family and his property, ray’s reluctance to discover any life outside of his farm, livvy’s dream of becoming a history professor or an archeologist, ruth’s admiration of livvy, livvy and ray grieving together and bonding through their losses, livvy and her pregnancy (which was the whole point of the book and yet i feel as if the pregnancy was barely discussed), livvy going from a city life to a country life … need i go on?
so, yeah. this could’ve been so much better if only it had a little structure. it was so close to being perfect! so close!! maybe the movie adaptation will fill in the blanks i’m left with </3