Reviews with content warning for Drug abuse - Where'd You Go, Bernadette

My only complaint is the ending. I think Sue Lynn getting pregnant was unnecessary and left a lot to be desired at the end. How would this affect the characters’ relationships?

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storykath's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-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? Yes

3.75

A fun easy read! I liked the combination of emails, letters, narration, etc - we got to experience a variety of distinct voices in the telling of the story. The tone came across to me as whimsical and a bit absurd, but it was done well and was still engaging. I found the pace a bit odd at times, since the whole premise of the book is Bernadette's disappearance (it's in all the synopses and the title!) but it took longer than I'd expected to get to that point. Still, it was fresh and fun to read throughout. There were some sincere moments amidst the silliness, but neither tone felt out of place.

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teresareads's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted tense fast-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? Yes

3.25

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waytoomanybooks's review

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I went into the book not knowing what to expect, which made it all the more fun to read! There were a lot of interesting twists that I can honestly say that I didn't see coming. I think all of the characters were fascinating messes of flaws and virtues, which made all the more invested in their stories. It kept me guessing, and it made me keep turning the pages!

I should explain why I gave it a 3 out of 5 rating (in no particular order): I think the ending was rushed and a tad sloppy. And there are a few loose ends I would've liked seen tied up

(like Soo-Lin's baby!?)

. There was also a completely unnecessary Christian bent to it that got shoved into the narrative in the last quarter of the book. And also some casual racism and hatred against the poor and the homeless that jarred me out of the narrative on more than one occasion. Also, the whole

Russian mafia angle was never brought up after the intervention. Surely they couldnt just go about unaffected by the fact that their identities/SSNs, addresses, and account numbers, etc. were stolen?

.

It was an enjoyable read, but it definitely needed another round of edits.

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aliciareads's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Was going to give this four stars until the last 60ish pages where suddenly all the characters turn into the worst versions of themselves.

I get that you're going to act out as a 13/14 year old if your mom just up and vanishes but Semple paints Bee as more of a child in the beginning of this book so the switch to teen angst seemed very abrupt to me. Not to mention Elgie's handle on the situation is just....scary

I did read this all in one day though so there is some entertainment there! I don't know if since this book is about upper-class, white suburbanites that the racist remarks in this book are there as a sort of commentary but I think that could have been a little more emphasized if that were the case. I'm not saying you have to spell it out for me but I was left wondering and maybe that's simply because this was written in 2012.

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