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thetejana_bookshelf's Reviews (153)

Beneath Her Skin

Gregg Olsen

1.5

medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The Thursday Murder Club

Richard Osman

4.25

adventurous challenging emotional funny informative inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

The Ministry of Time

Kaliane Bradley

4.0

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious sad tense

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Famous Last Words

Gillian McAllister

2.75

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The View From Lake Como

Adriana Trigiani

3.25

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

So I just finished this audiobook on Libby, and honestly…I have mixed feelings. The story follows 34-year-old Jess Capodimonte Baratta, the youngest “good girl” daughter in this big Italian-American family from Lake Como, NJ. She’s recently divorced, living in her parents’ basement, and stuck under all the family expectations (especially her mom’s).

Her uncle Louie, who’s also her best friend, is the only one who really sees her for who she is.

(Spoiler warning: Louie’s death ends up being the big turning point.) That loss pushes Jess to finally act for herself.

She heads off to her family’s roots in Carrara, Italy, continues therapy, and starts building a life where she’s not defined by her mother’s controlling ways. The book showed therapy helping her. Like learning tools, boundaries, and realizing the importance of solitude in rediscovering yourself. But most of it felt sped up because what was months/years for the character was only a few pages for the reader.

But here’s where it lost me: everything felt rushed, like the author tried to pack too much in. Honestly, Uncle Louie felt more like the main character than Jess for a good chunk of the book. There was also a lot of repetition in the phrasing, which got distracting. And Jess’s mom? Ugh. Always the victim!, always toxic silent treatments, and no growth or resolution by the end.

(Spoiler warning: instead of any change from her mom, Jess just learns to deal with it using what she’s learned in therapy.)

I get that sometimes family members don’t change, and you just have to work around that. But it was frustrating that her mom stayed the same while her aunt and uncle came off as way more supportive and helpful.

In the end, I did appreciate Jess finding her strength, her creativity, and the space to become her own person. But I wish the story had slowed down and given more weight to her actual journey instead of rushing through so much.