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krittabug's Reviews (347)
OK damn, this woman writes grief so palpably. This one took some time because it’s written from various POVs and timelines without much distinction between the switches (so if you’re listening to the audiobook, you’ve REALLY gotta pay attention). This one didn’t gut me like HAMNET did (oooof), but she knows how to make you feel the pain of her characters.
I wanted more from this one — more depth, maybe? It’s a sweet story of the friendship between four women in the early 60s who form a book club and bond over their shared anger and frustration of the times and the inequality they face as women. And maybe that was it — I am maybe burned out on the theme of women’s hardships. It felt a little too sugary sweet and buttoned up throughout and by the end, and I think I would have felt more connected had it gone beyond the stereotypical themes of women as housewives with their overworked, patriarchal husbands. Either way, a pleasant listen.
I’m gonna be honest, I just finished this book and already forgot it. The writing is lovely, but the story itself never grabbed my attention. The gist of it is a man looking back on his life from childhood to present day — the friendships, the women. It was super short and kind of just… shrug.
A slow burn. Was a bit underwhelmed within the first half, but then fully absorbed. A lovely, long journey of female friendship in Iran — which is an incredibly simplistic boiling down of the plot, but that’s at its core. I loved the dive into womanhood and friendship and motherhood and the rage of being female. It transcends cultures. I’ll remember Ellie and Homa for a while.
This book started strong — a deadly car crash, a question of culpability because of an assisted car, family drama. Then it kind of became insufferable with dad as narrator and the author’s inability to not write everything through a cliched male gaze, and THEN it started to peak again as the drama started to come together and solve itself. But the final quarter of the book shoved SO many plots and heavy-handed AI is smart-but-bad key messages that it kinda lost me again. Three stars because it WAS interesting.
This felt like the accidental love child of Shark Heart and I Who Have Never Known Men and coasts entirely on vibes. But in a good way? I can see people would either love or hate it, and I think I swing toward love (but note I also loved Shark Heart and I Who Have Never…). It’s not heavy on plot so much as it’s heavy on emotional experience and … grief? Weirdness? Mystery? But it’s beautifully written and strange and very short. If you’re into vibes vs. plot, go for it.
Unique premise (broadly about a woman who’s able to swap out her husband for someone brand new due to some faulty, magical attic door), but it kinda dragged for me through the middle. Lauren was a bit boring as a character and the flipping through new strangers as husbands over and over got boring after a while. I did like the ending, and pieces of the story overall were fun, but otherwise this one felt solidly fine and a little forgettable.
OK damn, that ending got me. But I also shrieked “WHAT” at the absolute end when I realized it was the very end of the novel. Honestly, this feels like a story what would be better told as a movie. In the end, the love story really got me, but otherwise the book was mostly just fine to me. The Frances plot felt disconnected from the rest of the story, yet was kind of compelling on its own. There were a few too many characters for me to feel super connected to any of them and, really, even the Joan / Vanessa story started off a little clichéd to me. But I’ll admit they won me over in the end. Also the new love standard: “If it’s you or the space shuttle? Fuck the space shuttle.”
This book made me irrational. Like, I was actively angry the whole time I was listening to the audiobook. The three main characters were so unlikable to me (though, aside from the manipulative husband, I don’t think they were supposed to be). Both main relationships were juvenile and irritating and full of miscommunication and stupid decisions. Gen’s Olympic athlete plot seemed forced. Emily was dumb. All the parents were shitty people. I felt no emotional connection to Gen’s grandma, who we barely knew and were meant to cry over. No. I could rant about this book for hours.
The audio was annoying. I need to read with my eyeballs instead.