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A review by umbrellaladyreads
Life In Pieces by Dawn O'Porter
2.0
This review is difficult to write, because I absolutely love Dawn O’Porter’s books. I really enjoyed The Cows and So Lucky, and Paper Aeroplanes is on my Kindle TBR list. So when I came across this one, I thought it would be a great read, perhaps an emotional yet also humorous exploration of life in lockdown about community and the new normal as we adapt to the changes Covid-19 forced upon the world.
However, I didn’t get that. Not at all. To quote Dawn’s much-used phrase throughout this book: WHAT IS HAPPENING?
Life in Pieces is a diary, a selection of what appear to be blog posts documented at the start of the initial lockdown. Masks, social distancing, Zoom calls, parenting, drinking (so much drinking!) are all touched upon in this book; things that most of us have had to experience at some point. It’s relatable in some small ways, but that’s about it.
In fact it’s a bit repetitive. As I don’t know Dawn personally (and I only know of her mainly as an author), reading this was like flicking through the journal of a random woman going about her day, clearing up after her kids and pets, detailing what she’s cooked for dinner, and her opinions on random things, including crystals and copious amounts of alcohol and where she gets her weed gummies, that are mentioned numerous times through this book.
However, there are some emotional chapters that focus on grief (following the death of O’Porter’s close friend Caroline Flack) which were quite devastating and, sadly for me, relatable having lost someone recently.
That said, I would MUCH rather have read the lockdown diaries of my friends who are parents, as they would have been deeper and much funnier. Only they’d never get theirs published, because they’re not celebrities.
Life in Pieces offers a relatively humorous look at lockdown life, but (for me personally) it only skimmed the surface. There was no exploration of aspects that circle Covid and lockdown, which could have given this book more substance. Instead it contains merely self-indulgent daily ramblings that make Covid seem like a minor inconvenience (aside from the Caroline chapters). It was almost as though the author was trying just a tad too hard to be funny and relatable, but it just fell flat and way out of touch.
I seem to be in the minority here though, but even though I adore Dawn O’Porter’s writing, I really did not enjoy this one.
However, I didn’t get that. Not at all. To quote Dawn’s much-used phrase throughout this book: WHAT IS HAPPENING?
Life in Pieces is a diary, a selection of what appear to be blog posts documented at the start of the initial lockdown. Masks, social distancing, Zoom calls, parenting, drinking (so much drinking!) are all touched upon in this book; things that most of us have had to experience at some point. It’s relatable in some small ways, but that’s about it.
In fact it’s a bit repetitive. As I don’t know Dawn personally (and I only know of her mainly as an author), reading this was like flicking through the journal of a random woman going about her day, clearing up after her kids and pets, detailing what she’s cooked for dinner, and her opinions on random things, including crystals and copious amounts of alcohol and where she gets her weed gummies, that are mentioned numerous times through this book.
However, there are some emotional chapters that focus on grief (following the death of O’Porter’s close friend Caroline Flack) which were quite devastating and, sadly for me, relatable having lost someone recently.
That said, I would MUCH rather have read the lockdown diaries of my friends who are parents, as they would have been deeper and much funnier. Only they’d never get theirs published, because they’re not celebrities.
Life in Pieces offers a relatively humorous look at lockdown life, but (for me personally) it only skimmed the surface. There was no exploration of aspects that circle Covid and lockdown, which could have given this book more substance. Instead it contains merely self-indulgent daily ramblings that make Covid seem like a minor inconvenience (aside from the Caroline chapters). It was almost as though the author was trying just a tad too hard to be funny and relatable, but it just fell flat and way out of touch.
I seem to be in the minority here though, but even though I adore Dawn O’Porter’s writing, I really did not enjoy this one.