Reviews

Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny

jaclyncrupi's review against another edition

5.0

Katherine Heiny is my kind of writer; her words jump off the page and punch you in the gut while making you laugh and think YES EXACTLY! If you haven't read her debut short story collection Single Carefree Mellow please cease reading this and go and read it RIGHT NOW. I'm serious. Get lost. So it's fair to say expectations were high for her debut novel Standard Deviation. And she surpassed them. Hit it out of the ballpark. Knocked my socks off. You get it. Standard Deviation may be another book about marriage and infidelity but it is so much more. Heiny writes complex women so well and here she challenges herself to bring to life a male character we rarely see on the page. Graham is glorious but his second wife Audra is perhaps my favourite female character of modern times. So. Much. Love.

jess_bee's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted medium-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

3.5

rosanne_'s review

emotional funny lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

bremnerette's review

medium-paced

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

3.0

hellymp's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

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

3.75

elizabethgarcia's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

3.0

carly23r's review against another edition

funny lighthearted reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No

3.5

This was an enjoyable enough read, but I expected a bit more.

jaimebz's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative 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

han2709's review against another edition

funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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.