A review by rebeccalm
Last Things by Jenny Offill

4.0

I really enjoyed the author's voice throughout this book - the words read like beautiful poetry to me. The choices in language and structure really helped to accentuate the fact that we were seeing the story of this family's life through the eyes of an 8 year old, Grace, who was quite an astute observer of the world and the people around her. A bit of truth, a bit of fiction, lots of weirdness - it really helped encapsulate the essence of childhood for me. The juxtaposition of the parent's personalities was also really interesting and well portrayed - a very grounded, matter of fact father and a more whimsical, spontaneous, storytelling mother. You would think the ideas of fact vs. fiction would be constantly at odds, but the portrayal of both parents and their respective quirks were so beautifully interwoven throughout the story - especially in how each aspect played themselves out in their daughter and the things she was picking up on about her family and their world. Such a beautiful and poignant book about growing up and realizing your parents are their own people with their own flaws.