Review by zoegirl - Sandwich

zoegirl 's review for:

Sandwich by Catherine Newman

2.25

emotional funny hopeful fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Listened to this as a bid for connection from my very sweet mother in law to be. I am definitely not the intended audience! 😅 I can see how for an entire demographic, this is probably a deeply enjoyable read. In that way, I’m glad to have read it to better understand and embrace a relatability that I could extend to my mother’s generation.

The brave embrace of the under talked about — especially around pregnancy and reproductive health feels so important — most certainly for this generation that had way less space to talk about and embrace their difficulties.

Some personal notes- It’s not that I don’t love reading about motherhood- I absolutely do!! This one, however, required some patience from me.

I don’t personally navigate my family constellations this way, and prioritize that my closest are far more emotionally available as a baseline. However, I had a lot more to critique at first and even wrote it out, but as the book went along I deleted it off as the plot matured.

The self deprecation of the narrator reminds me of the truth of Audre Lorde’s “nothing I accept about myself can be used against me to diminish me” - as what I would go to critique was frequently owned by the narrating perspective.

For myself, I could take or leave this work, however, I think it serves something important for other folks. I’m impressed how rapidly my opinion changed in the last fourth of the book.

Content Warnings