Reviews

El Grupo de Lectura by Elizabeth Noble

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crysrowe's review against another edition

5.0

So so so good. The characters are so real I felt like I knew them. I hated the book to end, because I won't ever know what happens in their lives after this!

It's a beautiful testament to the power of friendships, particularly for women, and the power of good books. Loved!

teaandlibri's review against another edition

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1.0

Nope. Any book that lists its characters either on the back or within the first few pages tells me it's a badly written book that doesn't do much to differentiate between the characters. I was right.

The book presumes to be about a group of women and their various family members, partners, etc. and the books that they read throughout the year. Sadly, it's really more about their personal lives and dramas and less about the books. It was like reading a soap opera, sigh. It could not hold my attention. I normally avoid chick-lit, but I felt I needed something "lighter" after some of the heavier reading I've done lately. Sadly, this wasn't it.

Luckily I got it as a bargain book. If I could have done it again, I would have only bought it if were a couple of books at a library sale. Or borrowed it from the library. But I don't recommend it at all, not even as a beach read.

lbailey's review against another edition

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4.0

I would love to give this book 4.5 stars! I slowed down reading in the last 100 pages or so because I just didn't want it to end. The Reading Group is a story about motherhood and female bonds told through the normal, everyday relatable dramas of a group of women linked by a small reading group. I loved the characters and the plot a ton. The only reason I'm not giving 5 stars is that, as good as the book is, I didn't close this book with that shell-shocked feeling or with the impulse to immediately tell others to read it.

rachel_mft's review against another edition

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2.0

Probably wouldn't have picked this up on my own--too chick-lit-y for my usual taste--but someone lent it to me. It wasn't bad for what it was--I got immersed in the story and cared somewhat about the characters. But a lot of things drove me crazy--it was over dramatic, and too crammed with minutiae and backstory, and just too pat. Plus I didn't like how she dropped one of the main characters mid-story. Still, I got more than I expected to out of it.

bookclubtrivia's review against another edition

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4.0

The book is written well enough, but idk, it just gives me bad vibes. Basically all of the characters are in shitty marriages (and one of them is only shitty because she makes it that way). There’s a lot of cheating. Maybe it is realistic for such a large percentage of couples to be unhappy? It’s not that common in my circles; I just found it depressing.

And the part that really bothered me (spoiler): one of the women goes as far as like oral sex with this dude, despite having a husband who loves her, and THEN realizes she just liked the idea of having sex with him but doesn’t really want to. And it’s treated like “oh, well she didn’t go through with it, so it wasn’t really cheating and she doesn’t need to discuss it with her husband when they do work things out later.” UM. Oral is still cheating?? That was not okay??

So yeah. Stuff like that. AND they barely discuss the books in the book club; I wanted the books to be a bigger part of the story.

I’d say the story is fine and intriguing enough, but it was not my cup of tea. I think the author and I have very different worldviews.