Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

All Adults Here by Emma Straub

19 reviews

beatriks's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted 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? Yes

4.5

I liked this book, it is very well written (a lot of sentences and paragraphes that I highlighted), with lots of wise words. There are quite a bunch of characters that appear around the protagonist, Astrid, and for me, that change of perspective worked well. How everything fell into place and turned out. 

I would recommend not stretching out the reading of this book for too long, otherwise you might forget what happened. 

My favorite characters were Porter and Cecelia.  

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thenageler's review

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

3.25


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annorabrady's review

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emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.5

I was recommended this book as one that you'd like if you like Schitt's Creek. While it doesn't have the humor of a sitcom, it does have realistic family relationships and each member is fleshed out into their own person, as in Schitt's Creek. They also have catalysts that push them out of their comfort zone and into a place where their relationship with family and friends become healthier and more fulfilling. 

There are mentions of miscarriages and abortions, as well as plots about people being outed against their will (handled well but they still exist) so precede with caution if those are triggering to you. 

My biggest problem with the story was Porter's storyline.
SpoilerI just feel that someone who is capable of making the life-changing decisions of going through the process of becoming pregnant through a fertility clinic so she can raise a baby alone is also someone who should be able to stop being someone else's "other woman." Especially since she was more than capable of understanding and siding with her best friend who found herself on the other side of that situation with her husband. And then to talk to her best friend about it, expecting her best friend would have any reaction except absolute anger at the betrayal?

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faraway_'s review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-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? Yes

3.75


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hi_its_micah's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Overall, I enjoyed the structure of this book and the general story. However, it seems like there was a lot thrown into this book. I did listen to this as an audiobook, but at times, it was hard to keep track of what was going on. 

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saskiahill's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.75


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adoseofcozy's review

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

2.0

This wasn't supposed to be my first completed book of 2023, but I had to finish it before a book club meeting. So, I sadly had to sit The Priory of the Orange Tree aside so I could focus on this one. I'm sad to say that my first read of 2023 was rather disappointing.

While it does present some great topics, this one just wasn't for me. It was okay, overall, but I had some issues with it. The writing was okay, the story was okay, the characters were okay...everything was just okay. I felt like maybe the issue was that the author was just trying to do too much. I didn't feel like I really knew any of the characters, or connected with any of them. The first bit of the book I was trying to keep all of the characters straight because the book jumps around from one character to another. Also, all of the "adults" were incredibly immature. The most mature character was a 13-year-old girl.

If you like domestic dramas that let you observe the chaos of a dysfunctional family then try this one out, if it sounds interesting. I will say that I probably wouldn't have been able to get through this if I didn't have the audiobook, because I would have wanted to put the book down and not pick it up anymore.

I read this for a book club and the majority though it was just okay or didn't enjoy it at all. I feel like I will forget this story and these characters in a couple of months, if that. Nothing was super memorable for me. It's an entirely character-driven story that will be entirely forgettable for me, unfortunately.

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etopp's review

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emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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menomica's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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
“And it’s not up to me, Elliot. Your life? Your choices? They don’t belong to me. Neither does this town—not any more than it belongs to any of you.”

Sometimes a lie was more like a wish, or a prayer.

I really appreciated this book because of how it talks about family dysfunction even in seemingly healthy families. The Stricks aren’t perfect, but they do very much love each other. I love how Astrid went on a journey of self-reflection and decided to be better as a person.
All of the Strick kids were unlikable in their own ways, so… good for them, I guess. The thing is though, they weren’t unlikable in a way that made it hard to read the book, but more so in the way of these characters are incredibly deeply flawed and we’re going to take the time to dissect how we got to this point. Porter’s a pick-me looser, Elliot’s a looser with an inferiority complex, and Nicky’s a semi-neglectful pothead dad. And it’s really interesting to see why they’re like that.

Now, the things I didn’t like were: Emma Straub is old and is trying to understand how middle schoolers of the 21st century act and it is very… cringey. Like hen pls don’t do that.
Also some of the takes about feminism and womanhood came off slightly terfy. To Straub’s credit, I don’t think it was intencional, per say, but some of the lines made me go… oof.
SpoilerWe never found out how Russel died, I don’t think. Which I honestly don’t mind too much, the but was still enjoyable on and of itself, but like… I was waiting to know the whole book.

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kmetzing's review

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hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


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