I don't have a lot of witty repartee this month...let's just get to the books!

This book had been on my TBR for a really long time. It was good, but not as good as I had hoped. Large estranged family forced together to sit shivah for dead patriarch. Focused on romantic relationships and fidelity and family and parenthood and talked a lot about how the main character loved women- the idea of them, and the idea of fucking them. Like, maybe that's how guys think...but it got old to read repeatedly.

This book freakin' wrecked. It wrecked me hard. So hard that I was bawling like a baby at 8:00 in the morning, and then went back to bed because I was emotionally drained before my day ever started. It's about love and relationships and family and who we want to be and how to make things work and looking at what we want versus what we think we want.
This book is hard to talk about because there were things I liked it but it is easier to talk about what I didn't like. The good: female characters who act their age but are still vibrant and interesting; a mother who wasn't overbearing; marriages that worked and marriages that didn't, instead of pretending they are all one way or another. The bad: there was a lot of reliance on dialog and action, without a lot of the internal thoughts/explanations you often get from main characters so it was to tell sometimes what was sarcasm and what wasn't- also I missed several things, apparently, because they were hinted at but not confirmed and then later it was treated like a known fact; there were so many characters and facets of the story that it felt a little disjointed...things just didn't flow as well as I would have liked. A review on Goodreads stated a similar opinion and said it was a disappointment because McMillan's earlier works were much better, so I would definitely still give this author another shot.
Ever want a book to work and it just...doesn't? That's how I was with this. It is sort of like a prequel to Jane Eyre, and gives back story on Rochsester and Bertha. I think the point might have been to make Rochester look bad...but it didn't make me hate him. I just think it was a really shitty, sad situation and kinda makes Jane Eyre that much happier. I may be biased though because Jane Eyre is one of the very few classics I actually enjoy. It's apparently modernist style...so if you like Hemingway, maybe try it?

What have you been reading lately?
I haven't even heard of "After I Do" by TJR! I have one of hers on my TBR, might have to add this one too! And You has been on my list FOREVER. I need to finally get to it!
ReplyDeleteI really need to read After I Do!
ReplyDelete-Lauren
www.shootingstarsmag.net
Ive had After I do on my kindle since before evelyn hugo came out and just havent gotten to it. Thanks for the reminder
ReplyDeleteOhhh I loved After I Do too. I think that one and One True Loves are my favourites of hers. SO good.
ReplyDeleteThis is Where I Leave You has been on my TBR forever, although reading your description, I feel like it will probably stay unread for a bit longer. :D I was not a fan of You. Joe was fine but Beck. Lord love a duck did I hate that woman.
ReplyDeleteI tried to read I Almost Forgot About You a few years ago and I just couldn't get into it. Yay on the TJR. Adding it to my list!
ReplyDeleteAfter I Do was either the first or second book of hers that I read (way back in 2015!) and I remember liking it a lot. I think it's what got me hooked on her books.
ReplyDeleteafter i do is the only TJR i haven't read, i don't know why but i think i'd read a few bad reviews so i was scared lol. the premise does not sound like something i will like but i do love TJR so i should just do it.
ReplyDeleteI need to read some more TJR! I've only read one so far.
ReplyDeleteI was not down with Providence.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy Tropper but I get what you're saying about that book.
I love TJR and After I Do is a good one! I really liked This Is Where I Leave You. Then I watched the movie which I didn't think was as good. I'm debating whether to give Providence a try.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't a fan of After I Do because the main character really rubbed me the wrong way. BUT I can see how it would speak to others. I read it during a deployment so I was just easily annoyed by the storyline.
ReplyDeleteOK - yep - ordering After I do right now!
ReplyDeleteAfter I do sounds interesting...may have to check it out!
ReplyDeleteWide Sargasso Sea is the worst. I love Jane Eyre so much that it just pisses me off. I dunno... I always feel a little weird when people write from a classic in a way that isn't meant to be a re-telling or spin or new genre... I remember really liking the descriptions but otherwise really disliking it. Oof. XO - Alexandra
ReplyDeleteSimply Alexandra: My Favorite Things
I wanted to like After I Do, but I felt like it didn't have the TJR punch I was looking for. It was so disappointing, I had to read back to see how it ended before I wrote this, lol.
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