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nearly_empty_nesting's review
4.0
What I enjoyed about this book are the middle-aged women who are living normal lives, investing in a house they want to flip, and stumble upon a spooky mystery. They come across as very relatable.
We need more of this. Let's leave behind the middle-aged women portrayed as going through a messy marriage/divorce, midlife crisis troupe that is so common in this genre.
We need more of this. Let's leave behind the middle-aged women portrayed as going through a messy marriage/divorce, midlife crisis troupe that is so common in this genre.
lucylou's review against another edition
No semblance of the witty banter of the Golden Girls, just a lot of fatphobia and toxic relationships.
loves_nurse's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.75
shmerica's review
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Incest and Sexual assault
pizzamyheart's review
2.0
August 2023 Hoopla Bonus Borrows.
Where do I begin....
Judgemental, bossy, and overall terrible MC.
Plotline has waaaaaay too many sub plots that don't mesh. Needs a thorough editing.
MC and her husband need to improve their communication or just proceed with a divorce
Overall I was enjoying the beginning but all of the problems piled up and ruined the ride. I wish I had my time back to spend on something better.
Where do I begin....
Judgemental, bossy, and overall terrible MC.
Plotline has waaaaaay too many sub plots that don't mesh. Needs a thorough editing.
MC and her husband need to improve their communication or just proceed with a divorce
Overall I was enjoying the beginning but all of the problems piled up and ruined the ride. I wish I had my time back to spend on something better.
lconrad15's review
4.0
The ending was a bit corny, but the story really was like a middle aged Nancy Drew. It was entertaining and a quick read.
holleysings's review
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
loribulb's review
1.0
I was expecting a juicy ghost story.
I did not get it.
I was expecting intelligent characters.
I did not meet even one.
I was expecting a story that did not have overtones of misogyny or racism, and that wasn't saturated with rampant fatphobia.
You guessed it... this book had all that.
A trio of women with more money than sense buy an old home purported to be haunted. They drank a lot of coffee. They ate lots of broccoli cheese soup. I'm assuming they suffered from a lot of gas, but thankfully that did not make it into the story.
The ending was so bland and anticlimactic I was a little angry at myself for reading the entire book. Ellen's marital problems were never really explained or solved, but were just an annoying background hum. The one black character (a nurse) has her dialogue written to show a lack of grammatical correctness, even though she was a professional woman. A waitress was described as a "bag of bones." Seriously, why? When all she did was bring them (yet more) coffee. And between Sue and Millie, the negative stereotypes around fat women were applied with a liberal hand. It was pretty frustrating and spoke to the shallowness of the story as a whole.
The lack of detail was stunning. I had no solid idea of what the house looked like other than it's a "Greek revival." I have no idea what that means. Sue's "famous dip" is mentioned more than once, without even the tiniest detail of what it was. Could've been a tub of tuna and mustard for all the reader knew. These are just a few examples of an issue that ran throughout the book.
The actual "ghost" was such a lame story. Especially when it all becomes clear as to what had happened. The shift from "wild feral girl living in the attic" to "settled pregnant lady living with her boyfriend" is so sudden and unexpected it was as though the author got tired of that plot line and wanted to be done. There was no foreshadowing of that shift.
The whole book reads like a first draft. Instead of "show, don't tell," which is one of the golden rules of writing, we got, "tell, don't show." I'm not sure if the editor was drunk or lazy or not very good, but the manuscript should've had a lot more work done before being released upon the innocent readers of the world.
I did not get it.
I was expecting intelligent characters.
I did not meet even one.
I was expecting a story that did not have overtones of misogyny or racism, and that wasn't saturated with rampant fatphobia.
You guessed it... this book had all that.
A trio of women with more money than sense buy an old home purported to be haunted. They drank a lot of coffee. They ate lots of broccoli cheese soup. I'm assuming they suffered from a lot of gas, but thankfully that did not make it into the story.
The ending was so bland and anticlimactic I was a little angry at myself for reading the entire book. Ellen's marital problems were never really explained or solved, but were just an annoying background hum. The one black character (a nurse) has her dialogue written to show a lack of grammatical correctness, even though she was a professional woman. A waitress was described as a "bag of bones." Seriously, why? When all she did was bring them (yet more) coffee. And between Sue and Millie, the negative stereotypes around fat women were applied with a liberal hand. It was pretty frustrating and spoke to the shallowness of the story as a whole.
The lack of detail was stunning. I had no solid idea of what the house looked like other than it's a "Greek revival." I have no idea what that means. Sue's "famous dip" is mentioned more than once, without even the tiniest detail of what it was. Could've been a tub of tuna and mustard for all the reader knew. These are just a few examples of an issue that ran throughout the book.
The actual "ghost" was such a lame story. Especially when it all becomes clear as to what had happened. The shift from "wild feral girl living in the attic" to "settled pregnant lady living with her boyfriend" is so sudden and unexpected it was as though the author got tired of that plot line and wanted to be done. There was no foreshadowing of that shift.
The whole book reads like a first draft. Instead of "show, don't tell," which is one of the golden rules of writing, we got, "tell, don't show." I'm not sure if the editor was drunk or lazy or not very good, but the manuscript should've had a lot more work done before being released upon the innocent readers of the world.