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neetbhandal's review against another edition
4.0
I honestly loved every character in this book, except for Grace. Was I the only one who had a really tough time rooting for her? I mean, she was filled with grief, and everyone handles it differently; but I just could not connect with her and I guess I just couldn't empathize with the way she dealt with people in her life.
I fell in love with her family though, Huston and Abigail and LEO. I wanted moremoremore, I just wanted to dive into their lives and find out more. I wanted to know about Huston, what drove him and what kind of person he could fall in love with. I wanted to know about how Abigail met Manny, about her kids. I wanted to know everything about Leo, his job, his short lived criminal career as a hacker. God the characters were so amazing, and their relationships with one another. Oh and I wanted to know about their parents, about the beginning of their love story. And John, I wanted to know about his childhood, moving from foster home to foster home and how he could accept Grace back in so easily.
Honestly, Liza Palmer gives you these little nuggets of just enough information and I love that I crave more but at the same time I can be satisfied with my own imagination. Definitely not the first novel I've read by her, but probably one of my favorites.
I fell in love with her family though, Huston and Abigail and LEO. I wanted moremoremore, I just wanted to dive into their lives and find out more. I wanted to know about Huston, what drove him and what kind of person he could fall in love with. I wanted to know about how Abigail met Manny, about her kids. I wanted to know everything about Leo, his job, his short lived criminal career as a hacker. God the characters were so amazing, and their relationships with one another. Oh and I wanted to know about their parents, about the beginning of their love story. And John, I wanted to know about his childhood, moving from foster home to foster home and how he could accept Grace back in so easily.
Honestly, Liza Palmer gives you these little nuggets of just enough information and I love that I crave more but at the same time I can be satisfied with my own imagination. Definitely not the first novel I've read by her, but probably one of my favorites.
brandnewkindof's review against another edition
3.0
I loved this, up until the ending, which was totally anti-climactic in the wrong way.
wvalice's review
5.0
I loved this book, and I hated it, too. She described perfectly how it is to watch your parent be ready to go when you are not ready to let them go. I remembered some of the exact scenes she wrote about in the month leading up to my father's passing. Excellent storytelling.
wattsy's review against another edition
3.0
Not my favorite among Palmer's works, but that means I merely liked this book, when I really liked or loved the other two.
Will be forever indebted to this book for the term "monkeyhander."
Will be forever indebted to this book for the term "monkeyhander."
mandamarie17's review against another edition
4.0
Amazing book...tell your loved ones that you love them...right now!!!
nancyadelman's review against another edition
4.0
This is the story of Grace Hawkes, a woman who has spent the majority of her life running from painful situations. Her father left her and her siblings when they were young, her mother died when she was 30, and now her father is dying and her 3 siblings need her to become part of the family again. This is a fluffy bit of chick-lit, a genre I don't normally read but this book was funny and sad and kept me turning the pages. There are a lot of characters in this story: the 4 siblings and their significant others, nursing staff, and a step-family from Hell. Ordinarily, I dislike reading books that have a lot of characters to keep straight, but the author was able to introduce them all without getting confusing. There were a couple of tear-jerker scenes and a few surprises, but overall I really liked this book and would recommend it to anyone!
keen23's review against another edition
2.0
I'm torn about this book. The first half sucked. It was just all out awful and slow moving and everything. Then the pacing picked up and the story actually became worthwhile. I would almost suggest that you start this book around the middle.
sandiet's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed reading this book with the quirky title. It is quite poignant and had me in tears more than a few times as it's about dead and dying parents. Hit very close to home as I experienced the loss of my father last year...sad book about the importance of family, what is love, how to forgive and how to cope with loss all while moving forward towards living life fully.
karenleagermain's review against another edition
2.0
I grabbed Liza Palmer’s “A Field Guide to Burying Your Parents” at the goodreads book swap at Book Soup in Hollywood. I thought based on the way the book was pitched, that I would find it relatable. I have dealt with a dying parent and have had to deal with the greedy relatives that come out of the woodwork when my grandmother passed away. Even though the book had similarities to my life, I did not find it very relatable.
I did not handle grief like any of the characters in the book. Also, the book is really about the sibling dynamic, which as an only child, is a bit of a mystery to me. I felt for the Hawkes siblings, but find them to be particularly likeable. I actually found the large cast of characters to be a bit indistinguishable and I had to refer back a few pages to keep everyone straight. It was a quick read and if it had not been, I don’t think that I would have stuck with it. Considering the subject matter, it did not pack much of an emotional punch. It often felt overdone and trite.
I thought that the title was catchy.
I did not handle grief like any of the characters in the book. Also, the book is really about the sibling dynamic, which as an only child, is a bit of a mystery to me. I felt for the Hawkes siblings, but find them to be particularly likeable. I actually found the large cast of characters to be a bit indistinguishable and I had to refer back a few pages to keep everyone straight. It was a quick read and if it had not been, I don’t think that I would have stuck with it. Considering the subject matter, it did not pack much of an emotional punch. It often felt overdone and trite.
I thought that the title was catchy.