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A review by kerisreads
Our Short History by Lauren Grodstein
2.0
Despite my low rating, this novel was actually very well written, I thought. The action and characters never broke believability and remained incredibly realistic the entire plot. You really got to know the major characters deeply, and it's even a fascinating POV: a mother dying of cancer, writing her last days in semi-journalistic format to her young son.
It just wasn't my cup of tea. For one, far too much profanity (which got increasingly more frequent as the novel progressed, else I may not have read it at all.) Without spoilers, it also had a lot of dark / heavy / traumatic material - too much for me to enjoy the story. There is one scene in particular at the climax of the book that I ended up skimming because it was a little.... well, traumatic.
I read for fun, and this was definitely not that: a bit depressing actually. I wish Karen's journey was a bit more heart-warming and humorous to lighten the mood a bit... But I suppose, doesn't everyone when they battle stage IV cancer?
Overall: Did not enjoy and would not recommend. But kudos to Grodstein for pulling off a fantastically real-feeling cancer journey.
It just wasn't my cup of tea. For one, far too much profanity (which got increasingly more frequent as the novel progressed, else I may not have read it at all.) Without spoilers, it also had a lot of dark / heavy / traumatic material - too much for me to enjoy the story. There is one scene in particular at the climax of the book that I ended up skimming because it was a little.... well, traumatic.
I read for fun, and this was definitely not that: a bit depressing actually. I wish Karen's journey was a bit more heart-warming and humorous to lighten the mood a bit... But I suppose, doesn't everyone when they battle stage IV cancer?
Overall: Did not enjoy and would not recommend. But kudos to Grodstein for pulling off a fantastically real-feeling cancer journey.