Reviews

Separation Anxiety by Laura Zigman

cpskee's review

Was not compelling in the first 30 mins of audio

junegloome's review

funny hopeful lighthearted fast-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

4.0

eileen_critchley's review

funny lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Judy is a middle-aged wife and mom who feels like the things that matter in her life are slowly slipping away. Her teenage son, her marriage, her financial stability, her best friend, her parents, her self worth. She feels invisible and lonely. In other words, she's having a midlife crisis. During this time of transition, she begins wearing the family dog, Charlotte, in a baby sling left over from her son's baby days to feel needed, centered, to fill a void. Her life feels like a mess and out of control, but this is a way to self-soothe (how Charlotte feels about it isn't really addressed, but apparently she is, at the very least, compliant).

This book is obviously fairly niche. Will it appeal to 30-year-old men? Nah. I'm not even sure it would work for 30-year-old women. But it struck a chord with me. I don't have a dog, and my marriage is not on the rocks, however I, like most middle-aged moms, have some of these same feelings and anxieties. Letting go of your kids' baby years and childhoods is bittersweet. It's a challenge to be in this space, even if the changes are good and positive. 

Somewhere around the last quarter of the book, the pacing slowed down a bit for me.

Spoiler

the death of family friend, Glenn, was very sad, as my family went through something similar when I was a child. Losing one of his closest friends hit my father hard and affected him for the rest of his life I think

Also, I did not at all like the detail of

Spoiler

her husband and houseguest starting to wear dogs too??

I thought this was unnecessary and kind of pushed the book over into almost satire territory. Other than that, though, I enjoyed this book. Sometimes I don't care for the writing style in books like this, but that wasn't the case here.

I've had this book on my Kindle for a while; I'm not sure what prompted me to get it. But I heard it was going to be made into a series so I felt now was a good time to pick it up. I'm not sure who is in the series, but if I were casting it, Kathryn Hahn would make a great Judy.

{owned, Kindle}

libr4416's review

emotional funny fast-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

3.75

maelyn's review

emotional funny reflective sad 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

3.5

dblue236's review

emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

2.0

melissakuzma's review

4.0

Very sweet, very relatable for many. A good pandemic read.

jennywjordan's review against another edition

4.0

Judy is having a hard time coping. Living her life feel like the odd man out —— someone with a bird on her head —- she’s always struggled a bit both with who she is comfortable being and who she thinks the world wants her to be. As she’s gotten older and the March through life has taken its toll, the ability to bounce through has gone flat.

Judy’s story is a journey that rings true in so many places best evidenced by the marked passages in my edition. It highlights, sometimes humorously, the left behinds of the passage of time.

I liked the books. Some corners hit way to close to home while others where very foreign to my experience For me, these are markings of a good book. And while I applauded the honesty of Judy’s character in some sections I wanted to shake her and just say no one is looking at you and it’s not because of the bird on your head it’s because they are worried about the bird on their own head. Somewhere in time Judy became so self absorbed that she forgot to look outward.

In the end though the book is a nice story of finding your way in all your oddness to others who embrace your and their oddness and help you find a way in the world

mkilgallon's review

funny reflective medium-paced

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

3.25

hmgonzo's review

emotional reflective slow-paced

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

2.75

For me it was a slow to start book and I was admittedly struggling. I was getting more sad than I would’ve liked in the book but the writing in this made me keep going. The farther in, the better and more raw the characters are with each other. Keep going past the first 5 chapters and you will enjoy it.