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A review by pickwickthedodo
When All Is Said by Anne Griffin
2.0
This book is tough for me to review because it started and ended really strong, but everything in the middle was incredibly underwhelming.
I genuinely was in tears, like half an hour into this audiobook. It was so sad. The set up for what the book actually is - an elderly man toasting the five most important people in his life - was great. I was totally in the mood to hear these toasts and learn about why these people were so important to him.
And then the toasts started and I disengaged completely. There were so many tangents and hangups on tiny things, I found it nearly impossible to stay engaged with the story. I'm sure I missed at least two hours of the book because it was so easy for my mind to wander. I didn't care about anything Maurice was saying. It was exhausting. I missed full chapter switches because I was so disinterested. Suddenly, I was on Chapter 5, and I didn't remember being told I was on Chapters 2-4. It was the longest short book I've ever read.
The last 45 minutes were much better, and the story felt much more like it related to Morris directly. Though you know how the book is going to end quite early on, that doesn't take away from the searing pain of listening to it play out. I genuinely was sobbing during my dinner vegetable prep, trying not to get tears all over my zucchini.
So, yeah. Strong start, strong finish, but everything in the middle made me want to turn the thing off.
I genuinely was in tears, like half an hour into this audiobook. It was so sad. The set up for what the book actually is - an elderly man toasting the five most important people in his life - was great. I was totally in the mood to hear these toasts and learn about why these people were so important to him.
And then the toasts started and I disengaged completely. There were so many tangents and hangups on tiny things, I found it nearly impossible to stay engaged with the story. I'm sure I missed at least two hours of the book because it was so easy for my mind to wander. I didn't care about anything Maurice was saying. It was exhausting. I missed full chapter switches because I was so disinterested. Suddenly, I was on Chapter 5, and I didn't remember being told I was on Chapters 2-4. It was the longest short book I've ever read.
The last 45 minutes were much better, and the story felt much more like it related to Morris directly. Though you know how the book is going to end quite early on, that doesn't take away from the searing pain of listening to it play out. I genuinely was sobbing during my dinner vegetable prep, trying not to get tears all over my zucchini.
So, yeah. Strong start, strong finish, but everything in the middle made me want to turn the thing off.