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marilynw 's review for:
Such a Good Family
by Caitlin Weaver
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Such a Good Family by Caitlin Weaver
Various narrators
I knew this story was going to head into very disturbing territory and wasn't sure I'd ever be ready to read/hear it. But the audiobook became available and it became another one of those books that was very hard to put down once I picked it up. The subject matter is extremely sensitive, especially because it involves teenagers. There is no happy ending, there can't be any happy ending, sometimes events in life don't lead to closure because, if nothing else, the events can't be forgotten and sometimes they can't be forgiven.
This is another neighborhood story, which can often have funny mixed with serious, but it's hard to see any laughs through the emotional explosion that one night/day brings into the lives of the main characters. Parents Lorrie and Eden have been best friends for the fifteen years of being neighbors in their well off neighborhood. The two of them are pretty much at the top of the pecking order among the school and neighborhood parents. They do have to run themselves ragged to get to where they are as top performing moms and wives and they have to run themselves ragged to stay on their lofty perches but they have each other to support, console, and entertain in this neighborhood/school rat race.
Their kids Knox and Summer grew up together, with Knox becoming the star athlete and most popular guy at school while Summer is relegated to the unpopular masses who are shuffled to the side, ignored if not teased. Both are heading for good colleges next fall. Lorrie and Eden have always teased about how great it'd be if Knox and Summer fell for each other and married someday although the older the kids got the more impossible that would seem with such a disparity in Knox's and Summer's social status among their peers.
But to the surprise of everyone, Knox has an awaking and realizes just how much he likes Summer and the two of them start dating. The story is told with chapters of past months plus the present day. We get to know a variety of characters and my favorite are two teen boys who aren't Knox, two boys who aren't popular. The author does a very good job of showing the good and bad in teens, the confusion of growing up in this world, and how parents can hinder as much as help.
When things blow up they really blow up. To say the parents make some things worse is a huge understatement. Things can go wrong in an instant and I think the story shows that to raise a kid right, the path has to be paved long ago, from the beginning. Beware the triggers in this story, there are many.
TW:story contains rape, sexual abuse, and more .
Thanks to my library and Libby for this audiobook.
Various narrators
I knew this story was going to head into very disturbing territory and wasn't sure I'd ever be ready to read/hear it. But the audiobook became available and it became another one of those books that was very hard to put down once I picked it up. The subject matter is extremely sensitive, especially because it involves teenagers. There is no happy ending, there can't be any happy ending, sometimes events in life don't lead to closure because, if nothing else, the events can't be forgotten and sometimes they can't be forgiven.
This is another neighborhood story, which can often have funny mixed with serious, but it's hard to see any laughs through the emotional explosion that one night/day brings into the lives of the main characters. Parents Lorrie and Eden have been best friends for the fifteen years of being neighbors in their well off neighborhood. The two of them are pretty much at the top of the pecking order among the school and neighborhood parents. They do have to run themselves ragged to get to where they are as top performing moms and wives and they have to run themselves ragged to stay on their lofty perches but they have each other to support, console, and entertain in this neighborhood/school rat race.
Their kids Knox and Summer grew up together, with Knox becoming the star athlete and most popular guy at school while Summer is relegated to the unpopular masses who are shuffled to the side, ignored if not teased. Both are heading for good colleges next fall. Lorrie and Eden have always teased about how great it'd be if Knox and Summer fell for each other and married someday although the older the kids got the more impossible that would seem with such a disparity in Knox's and Summer's social status among their peers.
But to the surprise of everyone, Knox has an awaking and realizes just how much he likes Summer and the two of them start dating. The story is told with chapters of past months plus the present day. We get to know a variety of characters and my favorite are two teen boys who aren't Knox, two boys who aren't popular. The author does a very good job of showing the good and bad in teens, the confusion of growing up in this world, and how parents can hinder as much as help.
When things blow up they really blow up. To say the parents make some things worse is a huge understatement. Things can go wrong in an instant and I think the story shows that to raise a kid right, the path has to be paved long ago, from the beginning. Beware the triggers in this story, there are many.
TW:
Thanks to my library and Libby for this audiobook.