jmpeck16's review
4.0
Real rating: 4.5
I picked up this book at the book store in one of those "blind date with a book" sections, and truthfully, when I unwrapped it, I was not very excited. I don't tend to find memoirs all that exciting, and this person seemed like she had lived a mostly normal life. I started out reading a few pages per day, forcing myself to get through a bit at a time before moving on to what I really wanted to be reading. However. The writing was so incredibly engrossing, I got sucked in and ended up finishing the last 50% of it in a single night.
Wow. The story had a few major twists, and was incredibly heartbreaking, but it wasn't the singularity of the story itself that made the book so good. It was the writing style. No matter what incident the author was describing, her rendering of character, interweaving of the past and present, her ability to seemingly seamlessly capture and represent scenes, made that anecdote completely engrossing. I feel like a member of her family at this point: an infuriated, angsty member of her family that shares their triumph and battle scars.
My one minor complaint is that the author spends a lot of time at the beginning talking about her fascination with a girl who died in her town. It seems like her fascination with death will be a major theme. She also at one point gets a job driving a hearse, hence the title, Driving with Dead People. But in the end, this has very little to do with what the story is about. The story is about her family, her trauma, the trauma of her sisters, and how they eventually started to heal. I understand that the title and the small-child-obsessed-with-death angle is perhaps a selling point, making the book stand out. But I wish that either, 1) this was carried through the book more, or 2) they found an angle that more comprehensively tied up the whole book.
REGARDLESS, this was a haunting and engrossing read, and I am so very glad that I ended up on a blind date with it.
I picked up this book at the book store in one of those "blind date with a book" sections, and truthfully, when I unwrapped it, I was not very excited. I don't tend to find memoirs all that exciting, and this person seemed like she had lived a mostly normal life. I started out reading a few pages per day, forcing myself to get through a bit at a time before moving on to what I really wanted to be reading. However. The writing was so incredibly engrossing, I got sucked in and ended up finishing the last 50% of it in a single night.
Wow. The story had a few major twists, and was incredibly heartbreaking, but it wasn't the singularity of the story itself that made the book so good. It was the writing style. No matter what incident the author was describing, her rendering of character, interweaving of the past and present, her ability to seemingly seamlessly capture and represent scenes, made that anecdote completely engrossing. I feel like a member of her family at this point: an infuriated, angsty member of her family that shares their triumph and battle scars.
My one minor complaint is that the author spends a lot of time at the beginning talking about her fascination with a girl who died in her town. It seems like her fascination with death will be a major theme. She also at one point gets a job driving a hearse, hence the title, Driving with Dead People. But in the end, this has very little to do with what the story is about. The story is about her family, her trauma, the trauma of her sisters, and how they eventually started to heal. I understand that the title and the small-child-obsessed-with-death angle is perhaps a selling point, making the book stand out. But I wish that either, 1) this was carried through the book more, or 2) they found an angle that more comprehensively tied up the whole book.
REGARDLESS, this was a haunting and engrossing read, and I am so very glad that I ended up on a blind date with it.
lisaeirene's review
4.0
I'm glad I kept reading this book. I almost gave up. I had a hard time trying to get into it in the beginning, in fact I put it aside and read another book first. But I am glad I picked it up again.
The book became really engrossing after a few chapters. The atrocious parents Monica had continued to shock me. The father was a monster and then mid-book the mother turned into (almost) a worse monster than the father. It's a miracle any of the children survived to be productive adults.
The book implies that it's about a morbid girl fascinated with death and dead people--and in a way it sort of is. At least the first few chapters are. But really it has nothing to do with physical death.
It's an enjoyable read and the ending was completely out of nowhere. I was not expecting the revelation that happens at the end.
Worth a read.
The book became really engrossing after a few chapters. The atrocious parents Monica had continued to shock me. The father was a monster and then mid-book the mother turned into (almost) a worse monster than the father. It's a miracle any of the children survived to be productive adults.
The book implies that it's about a morbid girl fascinated with death and dead people--and in a way it sort of is. At least the first few chapters are. But really it has nothing to do with physical death.
It's an enjoyable read and the ending was completely out of nowhere. I was not expecting the revelation that happens at the end.
Worth a read.
eileen_critchley's review
3.0
What a sad, sad book. The "dead people" part was a very small part of it and maybe just a reason for the author to write a memoir. Most of it was about her dysfunctional family, as most memoirs seem to be.
keribchilders's review
4.0
What you think is going to be a story about a twisted, young girl who develops a fascination for death, dead people, and mortuaries, is really a heartbreaking tale of Monica Holloway’s horrific childhood where she and her siblings endured both physical and verbal abuse at the hands of their parents.
In search of a respite from her dysfunctional family, Monica befriends the daughter of the local mortician and owner of the funeral home. At the mortuary Monica feels safe, feels like she belongs, and almost as if she has more in common with the dead than her own family.
Another review I read mentioned that in the portions of the story where Monica is a young child, things didn’t seem that bad. As she got older, and her perspective changed, the actions of her parents became more disturbing. I thought this was a very interesting point because while Monica’s parent’s actions were always questionable and at times despicable, children don’t know any better. It was as if we got to grow up and learn with Monica. I loved seeing that evolution.
Seeing how each sibling reacted to their family dynamic and coped with the abuse was also pretty eye-opening. Different people will react differently to the same situation—that was perfectly demonstrated here.
In search of a respite from her dysfunctional family, Monica befriends the daughter of the local mortician and owner of the funeral home. At the mortuary Monica feels safe, feels like she belongs, and almost as if she has more in common with the dead than her own family.
Another review I read mentioned that in the portions of the story where Monica is a young child, things didn’t seem that bad. As she got older, and her perspective changed, the actions of her parents became more disturbing. I thought this was a very interesting point because while Monica’s parent’s actions were always questionable and at times despicable, children don’t know any better. It was as if we got to grow up and learn with Monica. I loved seeing that evolution.
Seeing how each sibling reacted to their family dynamic and coped with the abuse was also pretty eye-opening. Different people will react differently to the same situation—that was perfectly demonstrated here.
xxstefaniereadsxx's review
dark
reflective
slow-paced
2.0
This is the memoir of Monica Holloway, who lived quite a morbid life. She made a friend, who happened to be the daughter of a mortician. I thought this book would be very interesting, because it had a very morbid description, but I didn't like it. I am not negating her personal experiences, but I was not a fan of the book.
larisajane's review
I give up on this horrible, horrible book. 1. Worst writing. 2. Nothing to do with driving with dead people besides maybe like a page and a half. 3. Gets an abortion and is so lackadaisical about it. "I just want this thing out of my body." LIKE ARE YOU KIDDING ME. ITS A BABY. Zero stars.
bookiesncreme's review
2.0
I hate giving memoirs low ratings, but it’s how I feel. I wanted this to be a book about a young girl obsessed with death, but that’s not what happens.
kimgillis's review
This book is very good but a heavy read if you know what I mean. I wasn't emotionally prepared for what i was getting into with this one before I read it. lol It's a very good book. But know that it will break your heart a little. Especially if you can relate to the content. Which I could.
js_warren's review against another edition
4.0
This was wild.
Her childhood was the polar opposite of mine, so this memoir read like a horror novel. The entire family sounds like Pigpen from Peanuts, except there was a cloud of chaos around them rather than dirt and dust. I'm still trying to process everything from the comfort of an adulthood built on a firm foundation of love and support. I can't imagine growing up like this, and thank god for that.
Regardless, it's a fascinating story, and Holloway tells it with wit and (presumably) brutal honesty. Definitely worth reading.
Her childhood was the polar opposite of mine, so this memoir read like a horror novel. The entire family sounds like Pigpen from Peanuts, except there was a cloud of chaos around them rather than dirt and dust. I'm still trying to process everything from the comfort of an adulthood built on a firm foundation of love and support. I can't imagine growing up like this, and thank god for that.
Regardless, it's a fascinating story, and Holloway tells it with wit and (presumably) brutal honesty. Definitely worth reading.