Reviews

Chronicles of a Radical Hag by Lorna Landvik

thsundeen's review

lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

Being from MN, I especially loved this book.  It is very cleverly constructed, and makes thoughtful points in a lighthearted way.  I recommend!

kathieboucher's review against another edition

2.0

I've always been leery of books of this type and yup, that was good thinking. Too sentimental and folksy for my taste. It wasn't awful, but I think I’m done with this author.

boggremlin's review against another edition

3.0

More of a 2.5 read — relatively pleasant and full of a lot of interconnected people/community stories. I mostly read this for the title and it was perfectly fine. I think another review referred to this as J. Ryan Stradal light, which feels accurate. It doesn’t have a ton of nuance or ambiguity, but it is very character-driven. I could probably recommend this to family, though they might take exception to the extremely tame queer relationship between two minor characters.

chou92's review against another edition

funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

earthseeddetroit's review against another edition

4.0

I really enjoyed this book. I listened to it on audio and at first it was a little slow getting started for me, but that could’ve been because my mind was wandering or something because once I got into it, I really enjoyed it. It was so vibrant and full of life to me. Life as it really is. Imperfect perfection. And I really appreciated the way the newspaper column was used to bridge the timeline between things that happened in the 60s and 70s on up into the present.

It gave an optimistic message of this how this columnist had such an influence on her readers, young and elder, so much so that many of them went on to be writers themselves. The recipes were a nice touch.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

rozlev's review against another edition

4.0

Delightful and charming.

lyrareadsbooks's review against another edition

3.0

A strong 3. This is a slice of life story and the characters are solid and have clear motivations, but it is a bit of a slow build. I was put off by the third person present tense - I’m not a big fan, but I got used to it and thought it made sense in this book.

susanthebookbag's review against another edition

4.0

Chronicles of a Radical Hag is a wonderful story that focuses on an older woman—a very wise woman—one who imparts that wisdom through her newspaper column. Not everyone agrees with her snippets of wisdom and that's where the fun comes in. As Haze Evans lies in a hospital bed after a stroke, the paper reprints some of her columns. Once again, her wisdom is shared and touches peoples lives.

Lorna Landvik writes a meaningful, thought-provoking story filled with her wonderful sense of humor and wit. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Chronicles of a Radical Hag, learning from Haze, and watching the people whose lives she touched change for the better.

mira_blume's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

mthereader's review against another edition

funny inspiring reflective 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? No

5.0