Reviews

Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny

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leelee77's review against another edition

3.0

At first I didn't think I would enjoy this book as it didn't seem to have any plot and I had no idea where it was going. However, once I settled in to it and understood that the whole point was to not have an actual plot as such I found it surprisingly enjoyable. The book is told through the voice of Graham, married to his second wife Audra whom he has a teenage son with. The character of Audra was funny, I laughed out loud at some of her actions in places. The ending though, it just kind of ended, nothing wrapped up as such, but I guess that is the whole point of this style of book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Collins for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

celiapowell's review

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5.0

Another lovely, warmly funny observational novel about a marriage, and all the relationships intersecting that marriage. I find Heiny's novels very hard to summarise from a plot perspective, but they're wonderful reads to sink into.

pestowitch's review

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1.0

I picked this up bc it was recommended in an article about “laugh out loud” funny books while I was looking for something in the Bridget Jones’ Diary space…

I kept waiting for the laughs to come but they never did. This book is NOT funny??? I don’t get it????

The story is fine. But it’s pretty dull! Not much happens! And both Audra and Graham suck! Honestly the only interesting character in the whole thing was Elspeth.

The worst part about this book is how much they complain about their autistic son. They talk about him like he’s an alien and a huge terrible burden. It’s not nice to read at all.

Would notttttt recommend.

lilylanie's review

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3.0

If I could I would rate this a three-and-a-half or even three-and-three-quarters stars, but I can't quite give it a four. It was a really good read, I loved the humor and most of the characters - even the ones that annoyed me - and it was touching but not too touching if you know what I mean. The ending wasn't everything I'd hoped for, but I get it. I might have wanted a bit more movement, but I think the whole point is that there really just isn't that much from one end of life to the other.

mish_k's review

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challenging reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

alicechris's review

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2.0

Man's love for son eventually overcomes his contempt for autistic people.

More seriously, I did think this was well written and the characters had impressive depth, but I also found this boring, frustrating, and insensitive at times.