The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
kellyeweber's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness and Alcoholism
burnyayhayley's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
This book is absolutely stunning. Beautifully crafted prose, sharp and clear while still being soft and gentle in many places. I feel like people largely felt that pandemic books would feel weird to read so soon during or after the actual pandemic, but this one felt comforting, and managed to make the absolute most of an imperfect situation. Everything about this story felt so absolutely genuine and real.
Also, whoever thought of Meryl Streep for the audiobook is a GENIUS and I hope they are well paid and thanked for their work. Meryl was fucking spectacular. I could listen to her read all day.
I guess this makes Ann Patchett a solid hitter for me, as I don't think I have given her anything but 5 stars on her work. Would highly recommend.
Also, whoever thought of Meryl Streep for the audiobook is a GENIUS and I hope they are well paid and thanked for their work. Meryl was fucking spectacular. I could listen to her read all day.
I guess this makes Ann Patchett a solid hitter for me, as I don't think I have given her anything but 5 stars on her work. Would highly recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol and Alcoholism
machenn's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
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? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Abortion, Alcohol, Death, and Alcoholism
allisonstockslager's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol and Alcoholism
Minor: Suicide, Racism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
sweetheart_ok's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
This book slowly unravels two storylines that converge at the end. The characters are likable yet flawed, and the narrator clearly regards herself poorly while revealing her uncanny ability to choose fateful interactions. The contrast between the two stories is stark but codependent. Pratchett skillfully develops complex characters and complicated relationships in this tale of heartache, family, and a search for peace
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Suicide, Medical trauma, Misogyny, and Sexism
Minor: Racism, Adult/minor relationship, and Abortion
othersociologist's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcoholism
prairiek's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Cancer, Pandemic/Epidemic, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
rei_reads's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
Moderate: Cancer
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic and Death
katiejohns's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism and Death
Moderate: Abortion
carriepond's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Tom Lake is a reflective and beautifully written novel about family, love, and looking back. During the summer of 2020, while harvesting cherries with her three adult daughters as they quarantine on the family’s Michigan cherry farm, Lara regales them with the story of her romance with a famous actor she met while playing Emily in a production of Our Town during her brief stint as an actress. The story unfolds over the two timelines, cutting back and forth between 2020 and Lara’s life decades earlier as she shares (and sometimes doesn’t share) her past with her daughters.
“The painful things you were certain you’d never be able to let go? Now you’re not entirely sure when they happened, while the thrilling parts, the heart-stopping joys, splintered and scattered and became something else. Memories are then replaced by different joys and larger sorrows, and unbelievably, those things get knocked aside as well, until one morning you’re picking cherries with your three grown daughters and your husband goes by on the Gator and you are positive that this is all you’ve ever wanted in the world.”
I loved this book, about how different things look when you’re living them versus reflecting on them. Watching Lara reflect on what was a tumultuous and fraught time of her life from the vantage point of decades later, living a quieter life with people she cherishes, was particularly moving given that it was set during another tumultuous time— the early stages of the pandemic. I re-read Our Town right before starting this novel, and Patchett weaves its plot and themes throughout this novel beautifully and to great effect.
Another theme Patchett plays a lot with is how much of life’s unfolding is molded by destiny or fate versus chance and choice, as we watch Lara’s life be dictated by both: seizing the chance to play Emily in her community production of Our Town leads to landing the same role in college, where a movie director happens to be in the audience, which sets off a series of choices and happenstance occurrences that ultimately lead her to a Michigan cherry farm.
The story within a story also serves as an effective way to think deeply about different kinds of love: the heat and passion of youthful affairs, the steadfastness of marriage, and the push-pull of maternal love, the simultaneous desire to hold them close and let them loose. We watch Lara experience them all in this novel, each serving as a foil to the others in rewarding ways.
Loved this one. Highly recommend it for those who enjoy beautifully rendered family stories.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism and Vomit
Minor: Abortion and Cancer