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A review by melaninny
Just Life by Neil Abramson
3.0
This is what happens when you buy someone else a book you think *they* might like, and they end up actually liking it. I got this book for my mom because it seemed to have everything she looks for in a book--animals, sentimentality, and an easy to read style.
It has all those things! It's just... not really my thing.
The book isn't bad. It's fast-paced and the dialogue is fun and quippy and the characters are fun and unrealistic.
I think my main problem with this book is that you can really see the writing process behind the story. I don't encounter that very often, and it doesn't mean the writing is even bad, but it's a bit jarring.
Each character has an established Tragic Backstory™ that they need to overcome over a very small space of time. Here's a glimpse at some of the characters:
+ The troubled virtuoso violinist teenager who sleeps with the pack of dogs that live in Central Park. Oh, he also has a condition that makes him vividly relive his past miseries.
+ The fat ex-psychiatrist who was caught abusing prescription drugs and needs to volunteer at the shelter as part of her community service. Snarky, but secretly compassionate. Oh, did I mention she's fat? It comes up a lot.
+ The priest with Alzheimer's who was in love with a married Jewish woman who died. He volunteers to take dogs about to be euthanized for one last good day every week.
And that's my main problem. The book borders on the maudlin, and though I knew when I was supposed to be empathizing with the characters, I could never quite get by that feeling of supposed to.
But it's interesting. The scientific part was actually the more believable part of the novel, and it's a quick read so I don't regret it. And my mom really liked it, so there's clearly an audience for this.
It has all those things! It's just... not really my thing.
The book isn't bad. It's fast-paced and the dialogue is fun and quippy and the characters are fun and unrealistic.
I think my main problem with this book is that you can really see the writing process behind the story. I don't encounter that very often, and it doesn't mean the writing is even bad, but it's a bit jarring.
Each character has an established Tragic Backstory™ that they need to overcome over a very small space of time. Here's a glimpse at some of the characters:
+ The troubled virtuoso violinist teenager who sleeps with the pack of dogs that live in Central Park. Oh, he also has a condition that makes him vividly relive his past miseries.
+ The fat ex-psychiatrist who was caught abusing prescription drugs and needs to volunteer at the shelter as part of her community service. Snarky, but secretly compassionate. Oh, did I mention she's fat? It comes up a lot.
+ The priest with Alzheimer's who was in love with a married Jewish woman who died. He volunteers to take dogs about to be euthanized for one last good day every week.
And that's my main problem. The book borders on the maudlin, and though I knew when I was supposed to be empathizing with the characters, I could never quite get by that feeling of supposed to.
But it's interesting. The scientific part was actually the more believable part of the novel, and it's a quick read so I don't regret it. And my mom really liked it, so there's clearly an audience for this.