lamindell's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
christiek's review against another edition
Read 70 pages. I wasn’t connecting with the characters. Also, by page 70, I should know why I’m reading this book, but I didn’t yet. Finally, the election night scene was dumb with bad dialogue and, really, not one of us wants to remember what that was like. It’s hard to write about floundering characters, and I don’t think this book pulls it off.
(Pet peeve alert - Also, if you don’t know Oregon rain, don’t write about it. Happens all the time that authors think rain means rain. No one from Oregon is going to say “Where I come from, this is just a sprinkle.” Oregonians say to your drizzle, “wow, it’s raining pretty good.” We have a dozen words for describing various types of barely raining but still wet outside. And finally, it rains in only half the state. The eastern Oregon town the sister is from gets only 13 inches of rain a year.)
(Pet peeve alert - Also, if you don’t know Oregon rain, don’t write about it. Happens all the time that authors think rain means rain. No one from Oregon is going to say “Where I come from, this is just a sprinkle.” Oregonians say to your drizzle, “wow, it’s raining pretty good.” We have a dozen words for describing various types of barely raining but still wet outside. And finally, it rains in only half the state. The eastern Oregon town the sister is from gets only 13 inches of rain a year.)
melissagomis's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this fast read and especially the main character, Cate, but I like slightly unlikeable characters. Cate lives in Chicago with her ex-husband who is into conspiracy theories, she's sort of under-employed, and is dating a woman she finds annoying. Cate's a set designer and enjoys judging people on their home decor among other things. This novel is set against the backdrop of the 2016 presidential election (but isn't overly focused on it) and the turning point in the book is when something horrible happens to Cate's best friend Neale. The second half of the novel grapples with the different ways similar people deal with shared tragedy. A few short chapters are from the perspective of Nathan and Irene, two criminals who live in Neale's neighborhood. I kept wanting to know what happened to them in the second half of the book, but it's never revealed and really isn't the point of the novel. This book was funny, sad, shocking, and entertaining.
jmarierva's review against another edition
2.0
Right After The Weather was a bit distant for me.. Throughout the book I felt as though the moment was coming where I could truly connect to the characters and the events of their lives, but it never really clicked for me. The characters all seemed to care so deeply for each other but dance around their emotions at an arm’s length, which seemed to limit the story not enhance it.
However the writing was beautiful and the plot overall was intriguing. Events move quickly and the spotlight is primarily on Cate’s processing of her life and her relationships. I think this is a good story for someone looking to connect to a character who feels a bit lost, unsure of what she truly wants, and impacted by many tragic events, with less of a focus on the plot and more on an inward look at Cate’s perspective of the world.
However the writing was beautiful and the plot overall was intriguing. Events move quickly and the spotlight is primarily on Cate’s processing of her life and her relationships. I think this is a good story for someone looking to connect to a character who feels a bit lost, unsure of what she truly wants, and impacted by many tragic events, with less of a focus on the plot and more on an inward look at Cate’s perspective of the world.
mellyjj's review against another edition
3.0
I thought this was an interesting story, but there were a lot of things going on and I felt some were unnecessary. But it's a great "snapshot of life" book that will have you thinking about it long after it ends.
fiendfull's review against another edition
3.0
Right After the Weather is a novel about trauma, decisions, and connections, set around Chicago in 2016 and 2017. Cate is a fortysomething stage designer who is hoping her relatively new girlfriend will allow her to achieve her Plan C in life and who feels like someone who hasn't quite grown up. When her best friend is attacked, Cate finds herself part of the violence, and suddenly her world doesn't feel the same, even with work opportunities and romantic complications.
This is a novel that is enjoyable in some ways and feels slightly lacking in others, particularly how the narrative ends. Cate is an interesting character, frustrating in some of her choices and in need of getting out of her rut. The way the narrative is centred around the attack yet it only makes up a very small part of the novel is also notable, though it doesn't quite feel like this comes together at the end. Overall, the prose style is decent and you do want to know about the characters, but then it doesn't quite deliver.
This is a novel that is enjoyable in some ways and feels slightly lacking in others, particularly how the narrative ends. Cate is an interesting character, frustrating in some of her choices and in need of getting out of her rut. The way the narrative is centred around the attack yet it only makes up a very small part of the novel is also notable, though it doesn't quite feel like this comes together at the end. Overall, the prose style is decent and you do want to know about the characters, but then it doesn't quite deliver.
3dotsforme's review against another edition
4.0
Struggling to succeed as a stage designer and trying to find her way in a new romantic relationship, Cate relies on her friend, Neale as one of her emotional supports. One day though, Cat walks into Neale's house to find her life long friend being brutally beaten by a junkie and trying to fend off the junkie's massive boyfriend as he tries to rape her. In the aftermath of this horror, they grapple to find their where the friendship and their lives are heading as they adjust to the new normal.
an_enthusiastic_reader's review against another edition
4.0
Three and three-quarters stars.
Over the last twenty years, when a novel set in New York starts out with a vivid blue morning sky on a Tuesday, you know planes will soon be crashing into buildings. The two images are paired, the blue sky before the terror. I guess now, when a novel starts out in October of 2016 and the characters are just going about their lives, maybe speculating lightly about the upcoming election, you know they probably are going to be traumatized and horrified by the outcome, much like many of us, the twinned emotions of life before and life after.
So Right After the Weather begins, and the first half of the novel establishes the setting, a forty-something woman named Cate who is a theatrical set designer living in Chicago, trying to find the right woman to date, dedicated to her best friend Neale and Neale's pre-adolescent son. She's also taking care of her ex-husband, whose mental state is precarious and gets worse once the outcome of the election is known.
Trauma comes in many forms, and this novel is full of various assaults, mental and otherwise. It might be trying to do too much, but it also conveys to the sympathetic reader a state of agitation and moral decay, alongside trying to simply live our lives. The novel's observations are cutting; the main character very rarely doles out the benefit of the doubt toward her romantic partners or herself. But there are small glimmers of happiness that peek out from time to time.
All in all, thoughtful and downbeat. I'll be thinking about it beyond today.
Over the last twenty years, when a novel set in New York starts out with a vivid blue morning sky on a Tuesday, you know planes will soon be crashing into buildings. The two images are paired, the blue sky before the terror. I guess now, when a novel starts out in October of 2016 and the characters are just going about their lives, maybe speculating lightly about the upcoming election, you know they probably are going to be traumatized and horrified by the outcome, much like many of us, the twinned emotions of life before and life after.
So Right After the Weather begins, and the first half of the novel establishes the setting, a forty-something woman named Cate who is a theatrical set designer living in Chicago, trying to find the right woman to date, dedicated to her best friend Neale and Neale's pre-adolescent son. She's also taking care of her ex-husband, whose mental state is precarious and gets worse once the outcome of the election is known.
Trauma comes in many forms, and this novel is full of various assaults, mental and otherwise. It might be trying to do too much, but it also conveys to the sympathetic reader a state of agitation and moral decay, alongside trying to simply live our lives. The novel's observations are cutting; the main character very rarely doles out the benefit of the doubt toward her romantic partners or herself. But there are small glimmers of happiness that peek out from time to time.
All in all, thoughtful and downbeat. I'll be thinking about it beyond today.
foreverarose's review against another edition
2.0
Like Everything Leads to You but much darker and significantly less enjoyable
jesabesblog's review against another edition
2.0
This felt so long and slow, but it really wasn't. Only 269 pages. It's a character-driven, nothing happens kind of book, which isn't my preference (I prefer plot-driven). The main character is a set designer for plays and the more I reflect on the book the more it felt like a play itself. With most books that are supposed to be about character development you get to the point where everyone feels so real they could walk into the room. The characters in this book felt like actors in a play. Nothing really existed of them when they weren't on stage and as soon as the book ended, they disappeared.
This next paragraph skates on the edge of spoiling things, but I'm discussing the marketing for the book itself, printed right inside the front cover, and how it changed the reading experience:
One big thing does happen and it was a strange choice to put the only plot turn in the story on the jacket copy. I can't remember where I heard about this book or why I had it on hold at the library, so the jacket copy was my only impression going in. I assumed it would come up pretty quickly. I kept reading...and reading...and it didn't happen I can't say it necessarily hurt the book to know a big thing is coming the characters don't know about, but I don't think the endless waiting for it improved the reading experience. The first half of the book is supposed to be 'normal' and the second half 'after.' Knowing in advance turned it into 'dreaded anticipation' and 'at least it finally happened.'
This next paragraph skates on the edge of spoiling things, but I'm discussing the marketing for the book itself, printed right inside the front cover, and how it changed the reading experience:
One big thing does happen and it was a strange choice to put the only plot turn in the story on the jacket copy. I can't remember where I heard about this book or why I had it on hold at the library, so the jacket copy was my only impression going in. I assumed it would come up pretty quickly. I kept reading...and reading...and it didn't happen