jxlastone's review against another edition
lighthearted
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage and Abandonment
Moderate: Infidelity
emeraldjulep's review against another edition
fast-paced
4.0
This book kept me laughing. I was pretty much the target audience at the time I read it, so it was very relatable to me. Also it’s set in Seattle which I know well and boy does she do a good job with parodying the characteristics of a PNW mom of the time. A good palate cleanser with a darker emotional understory, but uplifting nonetheless. (The movie was awful and drained all humor from the story -skip it).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment and Panic attacks/disorders
meganpbennett's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Where'd You Go, Bernadette? is a book that's incredibly hard to rate. It's... a mediocre book about a family you hate from the get go. Bee, the daughter, is not a nice person, and it shows throughout the entire story. Bernadette herself suffers from a horrific experience while trying to build the Twenty Mile House, one which people told her to dust herself off and get back on the horse, all the while ignoring what happened. Then she moved to Seattle, and wasted away in a house that was literally falling apart around her ears. The sort of falling apart where it's a miracle social services hasn't been called.
The novel isn't exactly as described, since a third of the story takes part before the family trip to Antarctica, and it's a little hard to follow, at first, since it's only later revealed that it's Bee creating the story from a dossier she received about the few weeks before Bernadette disappears, causing the perspective to drastically change and the reliability of the narrator to shift from 'unreliable' to 'complete fiction'.
However, that's what makes this book work, and the fact that we lose that shifting, epistolary story exactly when Bernadette disappears, thoroughly weakening the last 50-100 pages, and causing it to lose a star.
The novel isn't exactly as described, since a third of the story takes part before the family trip to Antarctica, and it's a little hard to follow, at first, since it's only later revealed that it's Bee creating the story from a dossier she received about the few weeks before Bernadette disappears, causing the perspective to drastically change and the reliability of the narrator to shift from 'unreliable' to 'complete fiction'.
However, that's what makes this book work, and the fact that we lose that shifting, epistolary story exactly when Bernadette disappears, thoroughly weakening the last 50-100 pages, and causing it to lose a star.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Cursing, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Pregnancy, Grief, Religious bigotry, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Bullying, and Gaslighting
erickert's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment
thewordsdevourer's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
I don't know whether to regret not reading this book years earlier, but in hindsight, I feel like I'm able to appreciate the book and its ideas more that I'm older.
Where'd You Go, Bernadette is a refreshingly atypical story filled with complex but ultimately humane characters. Despite its 'comedy' genre, I don't find the book that humorous, perhaps because underneath all the satire, there lies irrefutable truths. Bernadette is one-of-a-kind, and so are her drive, backstory, and motives, and her relationship with Bee is a great, nuanced one as well.
The book's unconventional format also elevates it, enabling the audience to read the story from multiple perspectives and offering an insight to each narrating character. Instantly readable from start to finish.
Where'd You Go, Bernadette is a refreshingly atypical story filled with complex but ultimately humane characters. Despite its 'comedy' genre, I don't find the book that humorous, perhaps because underneath all the satire, there lies irrefutable truths. Bernadette is one-of-a-kind, and so are her drive, backstory, and motives, and her relationship with Bee is a great, nuanced one as well.
The book's unconventional format also elevates it, enabling the audience to read the story from multiple perspectives and offering an insight to each narrating character. Instantly readable from start to finish.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity and Abandonment
Minor: Sexual content
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