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A review by minimicropup
Gone Tonight by Sarah Pekkanen
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Atmosphere: π
Fly-on-the-wall feels. We see the independent interpretations of the mother and daughter of similar events and behaviours, but it wasn't repetitive and the character reactions made sense even when you started to piece together what was really going on.
-Mostly set in an apartment and geriatric facility in a Pennsylvania town; imagine away because the author isn't overly detailed (in a way that fits the story), so if they don't describe something in detail early on you won't get your imaginings smashed in later.
Main POVs: π
-A parent in their 40s who had their child while in high school. They dropped out of school, cutting off their family, friends, and boyfriend. They successfully made a life as a waitress and single mother. They are caring, protective, intelligent, and cautious bordering on cunning.
-A morally grey adult child (in their 20s) of the above-mentioned parent. They are close with their parent, loyal, but also excited to branch out on their own after obtaining a geriatric nursing degree. They have confusing and conflicting emotions about leaving because their parent has recently shown symptoms of early-onset Alzheimer's.
-Journal entries sprinkled throughout of the parent recounting how they met their boyfriend, handled pregnancy and high school, and why they cut everyone off in their life.
Cred Rating: π
Mostly realistic/plausible. I found myself fly-on-the-wall screaming "what about____" sometimes and every time the MC would address my internal rantings in a way that made sense or showed they were aware of the shortcomings in their plan/interpretative of events, which drew me into the story and made me feel like I was interacting with the characters sometimes. Certain scenes near the end had to rely on a complete lack of eye witnesses but I guess it could happen! The feels about a parent wondering if their child inherited the worst of the other parent (while ignoring their own shortcomings) were realistic.
Reading Journey: π
Cruising through town in the evening on a twisty turny road while totally lost in an audiobook/podcast/radio program.
Great match if you like:
-Mother daughter relationship tropes
-Book club/thought-provoking commentary based on "Nature vs Nurture", "What would you do in that situation?", and how far is healthy/non-psychopathic for protecting your loved ones
-Fly-on-the wall narratives (we are deep in both MCs thoughts and understanding why they do what they do or think what they think while knowing more of what happened as the observer)
-Fugitive/secretly on-the-run plots
-puzzle piecing over the course of a story
Vibes: π«’π₯Ίπ€
Content heads-up: One of the characters works in a geriatric facility supporting elderly patients with dementia and Alzheimer's. There are descriptions of what the patients go through based on the MC's POV, and although dementia and Alzheimer's is touched on in the story, it isn't the main focus.
Format: ARC from St. Martin's Press and NetGalley
Fly-on-the-wall feels. We see the independent interpretations of the mother and daughter of similar events and behaviours, but it wasn't repetitive and the character reactions made sense even when you started to piece together what was really going on.
-Mostly set in an apartment and geriatric facility in a Pennsylvania town; imagine away because the author isn't overly detailed (in a way that fits the story), so if they don't describe something in detail early on you won't get your imaginings smashed in later.
Main POVs: π
-A parent in their 40s who had their child while in high school. They dropped out of school, cutting off their family, friends, and boyfriend. They successfully made a life as a waitress and single mother. They are caring, protective, intelligent, and cautious bordering on cunning.
-A morally grey adult child (in their 20s) of the above-mentioned parent. They are close with their parent, loyal, but also excited to branch out on their own after obtaining a geriatric nursing degree. They have confusing and conflicting emotions about leaving because their parent has recently shown symptoms of early-onset Alzheimer's.
-Journal entries sprinkled throughout of the parent recounting how they met their boyfriend, handled pregnancy and high school, and why they cut everyone off in their life.
Cred Rating: π
Mostly realistic/plausible. I found myself fly-on-the-wall screaming "what about____" sometimes and every time the MC would address my internal rantings in a way that made sense or showed they were aware of the shortcomings in their plan/interpretative of events, which drew me into the story and made me feel like I was interacting with the characters sometimes. Certain scenes near the end had to rely on a complete lack of eye witnesses but I guess it could happen! The feels about a parent wondering if their child inherited the worst of the other parent (while ignoring their own shortcomings) were realistic.
Reading Journey: π
Cruising through town in the evening on a twisty turny road while totally lost in an audiobook/podcast/radio program.
Great match if you like:
-Mother daughter relationship tropes
-Book club/thought-provoking commentary based on "Nature vs Nurture", "What would you do in that situation?", and how far is healthy/non-psychopathic for protecting your loved ones
-Fly-on-the wall narratives (we are deep in both MCs thoughts and understanding why they do what they do or think what they think while knowing more of what happened as the observer)
-Fugitive/secretly on-the-run plots
-puzzle piecing over the course of a story
Vibes: π«’π₯Ίπ€
Content heads-up: One of the characters works in a geriatric facility supporting elderly patients with dementia and Alzheimer's. There are descriptions of what the patients go through based on the MC's POV, and although dementia and Alzheimer's is touched on in the story, it isn't the main focus.
Format: ARC from St. Martin's Press and NetGalley
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dementia
Moderate: Death, Sexual assault, and Murder
Minor: Pregnancy