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A review by hanhantap
Maine Characters by Hannah Orenstein
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
oh heterosexual books. i return to you a few times a year because i have not defunded DEI in my house. and here we are again with my disappointment. only this time, i have been chained by the sunk cost fallacy of book club reads, daddy issues, and shared trauma.
first off: the setting of maine is beautiful. it felt lived in and atmospheric. i want to go to that cabin and hang out for the whole summer and egg the out-of-towners' cookie-cutter houses. maine really saved the entire book for me, in a way that i wasn't expecting.
the plot is relatively engaging. it does get tedious near the middle and it felt like the author (hello fellow Hannah) was really going for the 400-page benchmark and adding in little twists that amounted to nothing in the end. it does pick up in the second half where things felt more succint with realstic conflict.
now to the characters. these people are insufferable. i was in the first 100 pages ready to throw it into a metaphorical lake (aka my bedroom floor). i do like that vivian is a Bitch™️with moments of warmth and eventual growth (maybe eventually she will be gay. i can only hope). if she wasn't such a snob, i think she would really enjoy the book the adult children of emotionally immature parents while listening to "stay" by sugarland.
lucy, on the other hand...girl is going through it, and she is making it EVERYBODY'S problem. my patience grew very, very thin with her. she had a redeeming moment at the very end. thank god.
funnily enough, the dynamic between the moms is the most interesting relationship. i really enjoyed how complex they were and how they were struggling with hank's death and their relationship with their daughters in their own way.
every man in this book, other than caleb, can go drown. harrison is on thin ice (he is a lawyer after all). hank? die again, bitch.
2.75/5🌟
first off: the setting of maine is beautiful. it felt lived in and atmospheric. i want to go to that cabin and hang out for the whole summer and egg the out-of-towners' cookie-cutter houses. maine really saved the entire book for me, in a way that i wasn't expecting.
the plot is relatively engaging. it does get tedious near the middle and it felt like the author (hello fellow Hannah) was really going for the 400-page benchmark and adding in little twists that amounted to nothing in the end. it does pick up in the second half where things felt more succint with realstic conflict.
now to the characters. these people are insufferable. i was in the first 100 pages ready to throw it into a metaphorical lake (aka my bedroom floor). i do like that vivian is a Bitch™️with moments of warmth and eventual growth (maybe eventually she will be gay. i can only hope). if she wasn't such a snob, i think she would really enjoy the book the adult children of emotionally immature parents while listening to "stay" by sugarland.
lucy, on the other hand...girl is going through it, and she is making it EVERYBODY'S problem. my patience grew very, very thin with her. she had a redeeming moment at the very end. thank god.
funnily enough, the dynamic between the moms is the most interesting relationship. i really enjoyed how complex they were and how they were struggling with hank's death and their relationship with their daughters in their own way.
every man in this book, other than caleb, can go drown. harrison is on thin ice (he is a lawyer after all). hank? die again, bitch.
2.75/5🌟
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Death of parent
Moderate: Alcohol