mpaigewilliams's review
1.0
I kept trying with this one and just couldn’t get into it. Didn’t finish.
sweddy65's review against another edition
3.0
This is worth reading. It's a good and interesting story. It's compelling. The characters are interesting. But, for whatever reason, it didn't come together for me as a great book.
bkish's review against another edition
4.0
Wondrous book about complex relationships. It has a beauty to it. It unfolds carefully artfully. I think something different than the previous pages towards the end and it left me ? If someone else took on the writing. I did like this book
Judy
Judy
lenin420's review
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
jaclynday's review against another edition
4.0
Oh, this is very good. I love a good messy family story. The characters are lush (especially the emotionally bedraggled Bea and the hardened Emma) and the setting is perfect. There are, I admit, probably too many characters in this book for its own good, forcing the attention of the reader all over the map. (There’s even a persistent Sacco and Vanzetti/labor movement subplot that feels slightly tacked on.) After pushing through the parts that wanted more focus, I was always rewarded with an incisive, emotional scene. While uneven, that seesaw effect kept me—and the plot—moving forward.
sarah_caldwell83's review against another edition
3.0
This was a slow read. I enjoyed the writing style but it certainly wasn’t a page turner. The ending felt kind of contrived in the way that each loose end was meticulously tied up except for the most important one—the reader never finds out what becomes of Lucy Pear.
sarahs_readingparty's review against another edition
3.0
I thought this book would be better than it was. There were so many characters, and so much potential that went unfulfilled. I guess I thought Bea and Emma would have a different relationship than they had. I also was confused about some things related to Lucy Pear. The ending was strange and not what I was expecting. This book wasn't bad, but it seemed like it could have been more.
bluebooked's review against another edition
3.0
2 1/2 stars.
There's a certain kind of literary fiction (usually historical) that's just so... monotone. At least if there's a single narrator, you can keep track of who's who, but once you throw multiple POVs into the mix, everything gets jumbled together. It took me half the book to remember each character and by 75% I realized I wasn't terribly dedicated to anyone's storyline. I just skimmed the last 25%.
It wasn't bad, just not for me.
There's a certain kind of literary fiction (usually historical) that's just so... monotone. At least if there's a single narrator, you can keep track of who's who, but once you throw multiple POVs into the mix, everything gets jumbled together. It took me half the book to remember each character and by 75% I realized I wasn't terribly dedicated to anyone's storyline. I just skimmed the last 25%.
It wasn't bad, just not for me.