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krittabug's reviews
341 reviews
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.
This is an offshoot / side-character-story of Oliver Twist, which I’m not familiar with AT ALL. So the character of Jacob Fagin didn’t have any emotional pull or familiarity to me. The story was fine without any Oliver Twist understanding, but I think this would hit a lot more if you enjoy Oliver Twist OR know the character of Fagin the Thief. But alas!
I feel like this is one that would be better executed as a limited series. It gave big Sons of Anarchy vibes with *heart* and *messages*. I LIKED the plot — two ex-con dads team up to avenge the murders of their sons, who were married to each other. A gay, biracial couple that both fathers mishandled the acceptance of when the sons were still alive. Anyway, it’s super violent. It’s a little gruff. The messages are a little heavy-handed, but I would eat this UP on HBO.
OK this book was very long — 26 hours on audio. I feel like it could have been AT LEAST 10 hours shorter. At the same time, I did feel very attached to each character by the end, even though they were all fairly unlikeable. I appreciated how the stories of each of the family members (mom, dad, son, daughter) weaved together over time, but I also don’t know if I know WHY the story mattered or what we were supposed to take away from the entirety of it. But also I didn’t hate it? I am so torn. 😅
I was drawn to this book by the cover as I was scrolling. But the writing is so bland. So much telling and no showing. Basic dialogue. Awful audio narration (it’s not her voice, it just feels like it’s being read by a terrible actor). The plot, itself, SHOULD be good — and I was mildly curious where it would go — but the book felt like it was written by someone who’s only ever written high school book reports.
It’s been on my list FOR YEARS and I was finally just out of options enough to grab it. It was fine. The concept was interesting, but the characters were kind of boring and the story got long and boring at points. It had potential, but the execution fell kinda flat. I wanted more, but was delivered “good enough” in the end.
It’s not that this book was BAD, it’s just that I hated the plot and the insufferable men. They were all terrible people, except Addie’s dad. Also Addie was terrible at communicating and the whole story of her relationship with Dylan made me want to throw a rock and also call a therapist on their behalf. There were too many things going on within the story, too. Deb and her baby. Rodney? Like, what? This would 100% be an excellent Netflix romcom that I’d devour, but I just could deal with it as a book.