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cooperkm's review against another edition
5.0
It's a beautiful, funny, unique story that effortlessly spans generations. It has a strong voice that keeps you engaged, but also leaves you with a question -- who is the narrator talking to? I would recommend it to everyone (EXCEPT YOU EVAN, STOP READING MY REVIEWS!)
jaclyncrupi's review against another edition
4.0
A heart expanding and charming rumination on the love and life advice of a beloved grandmother. I wept, I laughed, I felt deep pangs for the loss of my own nonnas. This book is glorious and is in wonderful conversation with another book about mothers and grandmothers –Nadja Spiegelman’s I Was Supposed to Protect You From All This. It’s deeply moving and beautiful. #nobodywilltellyouthisbutme #besskalb @hachetteaus
liakeller's review against another edition
4.0
Now that was a good book. The history of a family told through voice mails and in the voice of the grandmother who has died. I am so thankful for book club as I wouldn't have picked it up!
vvonbiel's review against another edition
4.0
This memoir about the author's relationship with her grandmother and through her, previous generations of women in her family, is funny, touching, and a great look at how it feels to lose someone close to you. It is very much a story of immigration, too. Told through the voicemails, emails, and recreated conversations she had with her beloved grandmother, it is a super easy read. In fact, at times when I was reading, I felt like I was in an episode of the Amazing Mrs Maisel.
shannontay's review against another edition
5.0
Oh my! I laughed and I cried. This is such a beautifully written tribute & love story from a granddaughter to a grandmother. This goes on my favorites list.
ratherbedancing's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.5
nikla88's review against another edition
4.0
Un libro molto intimo, molto delicato, dove una nonna supporta la nipote. Nella semplicità della storia fuoriescono aneddoti di famiglia, sofferenza, successo e tanta ironia.
Il finale è prevedibile ma no per questo meno emozionante.
Il finale è prevedibile ma no per questo meno emozionante.
tinaha083's review against another edition
5.0
I first heard about this book on the ‘What Should I Read Next?’ podcast. I was intrigued but skeptical, as I’ve never come across a memoir that I enjoyed before. This one interested me because it was a book about a grandmother and granddaughter, told from the POV of the now deceased grandmother, who is writing it after her passing.
This book hit me in the gut with the force of a speeding train. I lost both of my grandmothers, one in 2002 and the other in 2013, and I was so close to them. It leaves a huge gap to lose a grandparent, and it’s not something that really gets dealt with in books (fiction or nonfiction), at least not that I’ve seen. Bess and her grandmother had a relationship that I understood, that I could relate to. The regular phone calls, the visits, the love and the friendship - this was something that looked like my life and my relationships. There were even specific similarities. At one point her grandmother comments on the fact that she needs more color in her wardrobe, going so far as to tell her she looks like a mourner, because she’s always wearing black. I can’t even count the number of times I had that conversation with one of my grandmothers. I could only laugh.
The part where Bobby is relating the circumstances around her death and the sections involving Bess finding out that she died and the aftermath broke me completely. I don’t think I’ve ever cried so hard on a book in my life, and I’m a reader who cries all the time. I listened to this on audio, and it’s narrated by Bess and I felt that FINALLY I was listening to someone say all the things I felt and still feel about my grandmothers deaths. The anger and the hopelessness and the endless pit of grief that you fall into were so perfectly described. And Bobby’s anger mirrored my grandmother’s - the things she wanted to do, and to see, and the frustrated rage at having to go before she wanted to really touched me. I cried for a long time. This book was both terrifying and cathartic. I had to look my own grief in the face and just sit with it while I listened to the last part of the book, and it was hard. So hard. But I’m so glad I did. I was able to process some things through hearing someone else say them. I was able to ugly cry in a way I haven’t since their individual funerals. In short, I needed this.
This book won’t be for everyone. But if you are a person reeling from loss and grief, this may help you process it, or at least understand that it’s there to be processed. Have tissues at the ready, but know that you’ll leave the experience feeling slightly less broken than when your started. It won’t take away what you feel, but it may put it in words that you can relate to, and that can help. It certainly did for me.
This book hit me in the gut with the force of a speeding train. I lost both of my grandmothers, one in 2002 and the other in 2013, and I was so close to them. It leaves a huge gap to lose a grandparent, and it’s not something that really gets dealt with in books (fiction or nonfiction), at least not that I’ve seen. Bess and her grandmother had a relationship that I understood, that I could relate to. The regular phone calls, the visits, the love and the friendship - this was something that looked like my life and my relationships. There were even specific similarities. At one point her grandmother comments on the fact that she needs more color in her wardrobe, going so far as to tell her she looks like a mourner, because she’s always wearing black. I can’t even count the number of times I had that conversation with one of my grandmothers. I could only laugh.
The part where Bobby is relating the circumstances around her death and the sections involving Bess finding out that she died and the aftermath broke me completely. I don’t think I’ve ever cried so hard on a book in my life, and I’m a reader who cries all the time. I listened to this on audio, and it’s narrated by Bess and I felt that FINALLY I was listening to someone say all the things I felt and still feel about my grandmothers deaths. The anger and the hopelessness and the endless pit of grief that you fall into were so perfectly described. And Bobby’s anger mirrored my grandmother’s - the things she wanted to do, and to see, and the frustrated rage at having to go before she wanted to really touched me. I cried for a long time. This book was both terrifying and cathartic. I had to look my own grief in the face and just sit with it while I listened to the last part of the book, and it was hard. So hard. But I’m so glad I did. I was able to process some things through hearing someone else say them. I was able to ugly cry in a way I haven’t since their individual funerals. In short, I needed this.
This book won’t be for everyone. But if you are a person reeling from loss and grief, this may help you process it, or at least understand that it’s there to be processed. Have tissues at the ready, but know that you’ll leave the experience feeling slightly less broken than when your started. It won’t take away what you feel, but it may put it in words that you can relate to, and that can help. It certainly did for me.