Carolyn White

Disappointing

Revisado: 01-03-25

The beginning of this book was really interesting. Then the section about the daughter, Grace, began. It felt very long and slow, especially since half of this section, inexplicably, detailed the life of Grace’s friend Ruth. Ruth was impossibly pure, accomplished, and kind. Why? Her inclusion seemed fairly unrelated to the plot, unless you really give it the English major-treatment and make a bunch of tenuous connections about symbolism. The ending was interesting but felt rushed. Add to these issues many long phone conversations and flat male characters…not my favorite, but it was at least original.

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Frustrating

Revisado: 12-12-24

The author is a genius, but for me, Jane and Lenny were distractingly, frustratingly unlikable. Yeah, I know- expecting to like main characters is immature. Guilty. Anyway. As soon as Jane began to redeem herself in my eyes, the plot itself grew frustrating. Still, I learned a lot from the book.

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Funny, sad, magical

Revisado: 07-01-24

I wish I could forget this book and start listening to it over again immediately. Kristin Higgins creates such warm-hearted, lovable characters. I hope she writes another book about the Smith family. I appreciate the way she writes about women in their 60s as real, warm-blooded humans, not flat, gray supports for the “real” characters.

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Sweet book, but very repetitive

Revisado: 06-14-24

The beginning of the book was great. However, in the second half, the sensory detail and reviewing of the main character’s memories, all of which the reader saw in the first half, drowned the plot. I did like the fact that the author clearly loves Bakersfield. It’s nice to read a book not set in New England, New York, or a West Coast metropolis.

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Brilliant

Revisado: 01-17-24

The characters and plot are like nothing I’ve read. I rooted for the protagonist and for Gentry throughout the book. Nobody writes about people who work hard and struggle against terrible odds like Bryan Greenwood.

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Confusing

Revisado: 11-27-23

Wow. The writing at the beginning of this book was so convoluted that I didn’t think I could finish, but I was interested enough in the plot to continue. Then, suddenly, the writing became wonderful and clear, as if the author had slapped away the hand of a bad editor.

Sela’s character was lovely and felt realistic, but Caroline was a portrait of well-intentioned, plodding privilege. As a transplant recipient who has known several donors and other recipients, I found this book’s portrayal of the risks of donation way scarier and more negative than what I’ve observed in real life. Thank God for that. It was hard to read about someone wondering for months, hmmmm…should I save my sister’s life? It sounds nerve wracking, and my husband’s having a tantrum over the idea…so probably not. Yuck. But my irritation with Caroline and her smug family means, I guess, that the author did a great job of showing how a certain kind of odious people think. I’m glad I finished this book

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A little longer than it needed to be

Revisado: 08-11-23

Good story….a lot of talking and talking and talking, though. The secondary characters- Francie and Barb especially- felt realer to me than Helen. My rating, however, is mostly based on the very ending, which felt unfair. But no spoilers.

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Realistic, I’m sure, but no purpose

Revisado: 05-31-23

Emma Cline is a great writer. And I’m sure Alex is realistic in her grifty nihilism for an addict/sex worker, but the world is full of realism I don’t want to read about. Yet I did. I knew the ending would have no resolution- there was just no way after the meandering plot- yet I finished it. The book felt a little like a French film from the 60s-aggressively blasé.

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Very realistic

Revisado: 01-27-23

Great writing! It felt very long, and although I know the length added to the realism, there were some events included that were very subtle and minor.

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Way better than I’d predicted!

Revisado: 01-13-23

Great plot and great job by the author of writing believable female characters. I did think one character transformed abruptly into an unrealistically fantastic undercover detective, but still- lots of fun twists and turns.

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