jsheldonsherman's review
3.0
Spoiler
This is a book about a psychologist who believes she has the perfect life until a woman is killed and her husband disappears and she starts questioning everything she knows to be true. Honestly, I don't remember anything about this book, but I'm thinking I didn't love it or find it very satisfying in the end.akona1's review
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
georgia_hadj's review
3.0
3,5
Μου έχει αφήσει ανάμικτα συναισθήματα αλλα ταυτόχρονα και ένα κενό. Σου προκαλεί αγωνία, έχει μυστήριο και πρωτότυπο σε πολλά σημεία, κάποιες στιγμές έμεινα κυριολεκτικά με το στόμα ανοιχτό! Δεν με πείραξε ο όγκος τους (606 σελίδες) αλλα η τόσο περιγραφή για το οτιδήποτε. Δεν κατάφερα να συνδεθώ ή να καταλάβω την πρωταγωνίστρια αλλά η συγγραφέας κατάφερε να με μεταφέρει στην Νεα Υόρκη, να δω τη διαφορά στις τάξεις και όλο αυτό το δήθεν! Το βιβλίο θα γυριστεί σε σειρά στο Netflix με πρωταγωνίστρια την Nicole Kidman και είμαι πολύ περίεργη να την δω!
Μου έχει αφήσει ανάμικτα συναισθήματα αλλα ταυτόχρονα και ένα κενό. Σου προκαλεί αγωνία, έχει μυστήριο και πρωτότυπο σε πολλά σημεία, κάποιες στιγμές έμεινα κυριολεκτικά με το στόμα ανοιχτό! Δεν με πείραξε ο όγκος τους (606 σελίδες) αλλα η τόσο περιγραφή για το οτιδήποτε. Δεν κατάφερα να συνδεθώ ή να καταλάβω την πρωταγωνίστρια αλλά η συγγραφέας κατάφερε να με μεταφέρει στην Νεα Υόρκη, να δω τη διαφορά στις τάξεις και όλο αυτό το δήθεν! Το βιβλίο θα γυριστεί σε σειρά στο Netflix με πρωταγωνίστρια την Nicole Kidman και είμαι πολύ περίεργη να την δω!
tantealex's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
ellekeene's review
3.0
Some fairly decent twists and a writing style that kept me reading, if not necessarily loving. Seemed to saint the protagonist in a way that wanted to be humbling, but wasn't.
melissakuzma's review
4.0
I loved this book! I felt like a horrified voyeur watching Grace's perfect life unravel, bit by bit, as she finds out her husband of 20 years is not who she thought he was. This seems to be a popular theme in books lately (since Gone Girl) and of the several I've read, this one is the best so far!
aneemithu's review
3.0
Hmm I read a lot of reviews saying the first half is a bit boring but then it gets better… well it didn’t. Not that much anyways.
Main point I took from this book were:
-Grace is a snob. But will still spend the whole book calling others snobs
-She clearly didn’t see the irony behind her own book title/contents when talking about her husband (but I guess that’s the point of this book)
-For a professional therapist who’s been told her husband is a liar, she still decides to spend most of the book BELIEVING THOSE LIES and doesn’t once sit there and question “hmm maybe this is thing he told me isn’t true”
-I need to know how and why Graces ancestors purchased property even though it doesn’t have anything to do with the story
Grace sort of just walks around in a daze the whole time. I’m not saying I’d be any better at dealing with the stuff she went through. But she almost just goes through the book with her eyes and ears covered like a child. Not wanting to acknowledge things unless people literally shook her by the shoulders.
Was an alright book. Wasn’t expecting the ending so will give it more than 2 stars as it did peak my interest.
Main point I took from this book were:
-Grace is a snob. But will still spend the whole book calling others snobs
-She clearly didn’t see the irony behind her own book title/contents when talking about her husband (but I guess that’s the point of this book)
-For a professional therapist who’s been told her husband is a liar, she still decides to spend most of the book BELIEVING THOSE LIES and doesn’t once sit there and question “hmm maybe this is thing he told me isn’t true”
-I need to know how and why Graces ancestors purchased property even though it doesn’t have anything to do with the story
Grace sort of just walks around in a daze the whole time. I’m not saying I’d be any better at dealing with the stuff she went through. But she almost just goes through the book with her eyes and ears covered like a child. Not wanting to acknowledge things unless people literally shook her by the shoulders.
Was an alright book. Wasn’t expecting the ending so will give it more than 2 stars as it did peak my interest.
agg789's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
nyssahhhh's review
3.0
I think it was fine? Lots of twists and turns... Perhaps too many. I do know that I'd be happy to never see the word "unlovely" again.
eaklemp's review
4.0
I feel like I have been on a pretty lucky streak lately, having had the pleasure of reading books that were enjoyable and worthy of being passed on. "You Should Have Known" by Jean Hanff Korelitz is no exception. At 438 pages, it isn't exactly a light summer read, but with writing that flows and a plot that is well-developed, it is a refreshing work of fiction nonetheless.
"You Should Have Known" centers around Grace Sachs, a marriage counselor and therapist living in New York with her husband, pediatric oncologist Jonathan Sachs, and their son Henry. Grace has authored a soon-to-be-published book titled 'You Should Have Known', a self-help of sorts which lambasts women for making terrible choices in companions and spouses when they should have read the tell-tale signs of a doomed relationship from the start. Henry is enrolled at Rearden, a private school catering to the upper-class families of Manhattan, following his mother's footsteps.
Grace's confidence in her expertise on relationships and in her steadfast and loving marriage is shaken and turned upside down when a Rearden student's mother is brutally murdered and Jonathan becomes the primary suspect. In a flurry of humiliation and confusion, the truth about numerous affairs, illegitimate children, and termination of his employment months prior is revealed, leaving Grace devastated and in shock. Everything she thought was true is put to the question. She and Henry quickly depart Manhattan and its inevitable media circus and eventually attempt to start a new life at her lakehouse in Connecticut.
Korelitz is masterful at building suspense. I felt my heart thumping as more and more information was released, felt the frantic helplessness of Grace as she tried desperately to find Jonathan when he disappeared, and gasped when the ropes holding together her life became unraveled string by string. I wanted to reach through the pages and shake her by the shoulders a few times, when 'a-ha moments' would strike me and things fell into place to expose truths before Grace figured them out, or when she purposely and stubbornly fell into denial and refused to see those truths for herself.
The only criticism I have of the book is the romance that Korelitz begins to develop between Grace and her lakehouse neighbor. It starts only a couple months after Grace's world as she knew it came crashing down, and seemed a bit too cavalier and rushed to be believable. A woman who finds out in December that her husband is not only an adulterer but a murderer as well, is not likely to be falling for and kissing another man in late February. I feel as though that part was an attempt by Korelitz to signal that Grace was moving on with her life and would overcome all that had happened, but I believe the book would have been better off without the blooming lovestory at the end.
All in all, this is a solid book. It has a compelling plot and well-developed characters, but is too intense for what I would consider a summer read. Read it when you desire something with more substance, and I'm sure you won't be disappointed.
"You Should Have Known" centers around Grace Sachs, a marriage counselor and therapist living in New York with her husband, pediatric oncologist Jonathan Sachs, and their son Henry. Grace has authored a soon-to-be-published book titled 'You Should Have Known', a self-help of sorts which lambasts women for making terrible choices in companions and spouses when they should have read the tell-tale signs of a doomed relationship from the start. Henry is enrolled at Rearden, a private school catering to the upper-class families of Manhattan, following his mother's footsteps.
Grace's confidence in her expertise on relationships and in her steadfast and loving marriage is shaken and turned upside down when a Rearden student's mother is brutally murdered and Jonathan becomes the primary suspect. In a flurry of humiliation and confusion, the truth about numerous affairs, illegitimate children, and termination of his employment months prior is revealed, leaving Grace devastated and in shock. Everything she thought was true is put to the question. She and Henry quickly depart Manhattan and its inevitable media circus and eventually attempt to start a new life at her lakehouse in Connecticut.
Korelitz is masterful at building suspense. I felt my heart thumping as more and more information was released, felt the frantic helplessness of Grace as she tried desperately to find Jonathan when he disappeared, and gasped when the ropes holding together her life became unraveled string by string. I wanted to reach through the pages and shake her by the shoulders a few times, when 'a-ha moments' would strike me and things fell into place to expose truths before Grace figured them out, or when she purposely and stubbornly fell into denial and refused to see those truths for herself.
The only criticism I have of the book is the romance that Korelitz begins to develop between Grace and her lakehouse neighbor. It starts only a couple months after Grace's world as she knew it came crashing down, and seemed a bit too cavalier and rushed to be believable. A woman who finds out in December that her husband is not only an adulterer but a murderer as well, is not likely to be falling for and kissing another man in late February. I feel as though that part was an attempt by Korelitz to signal that Grace was moving on with her life and would overcome all that had happened, but I believe the book would have been better off without the blooming lovestory at the end.
All in all, this is a solid book. It has a compelling plot and well-developed characters, but is too intense for what I would consider a summer read. Read it when you desire something with more substance, and I'm sure you won't be disappointed.