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labarrec's review against another edition
3.0
There is no way the conflict eating the MC up inside was…that. And that it was resolved that easily.
twstdtink's review against another edition
3.0
Many of us fantasize about going back and telling off the school bully of our youth. But, other than a little social media stalking, most of us don’t actually do it. What starts off as an out-of-character outburst at a PTA meeting for Caroline, quickly turns into a road trip to her hometown to confront the frenemy of her childhood. With her headstrong teenage daughter as the copilot, what could go wrong? Everything.
carolpk's review against another edition
4.0
My sincere thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this e-galley to be published September 8, 2015.
Matthew Dicks has a way with picking interesting subjects and presenting them in unusual ways so I was hoping for the usual off the grid read. The Perfect Comeback of Caroline Jacobs didn’t disappoint. Dicks takes us back to all the horrors of high school, especially if you were on the outside looking in.
Caroline, a quiet, meek soul blows up with a capital F at a PTO meeting. When her daughter, Polly comes to her defense by physically assaulting the PTO President’s daughter, suspension is threatened. Caroline breaks her daughter out of the principal’s office and with only the clothes on their backs sets off on a road trip back home to face the woman, once her best friend, who dumped her without a backward glance. What ensues is heartfelt, often funny and thought provoking, allowing Caroline a creative, if late, comeback and a stronger relationship with her daughter.
Matthew Dicks day job as a teacher brings credibility to scenes of school politics and student life. Assuming he was also once a student, that experience clearly helped shape his novel.
The Perfect Comeback of Caroline Jacobs (a perfect title) is a trip back in time that may dig up buried memories but may also offer a means to finally face them.
Matthew Dicks has a way with picking interesting subjects and presenting them in unusual ways so I was hoping for the usual off the grid read. The Perfect Comeback of Caroline Jacobs didn’t disappoint. Dicks takes us back to all the horrors of high school, especially if you were on the outside looking in.
Caroline, a quiet, meek soul blows up with a capital F at a PTO meeting. When her daughter, Polly comes to her defense by physically assaulting the PTO President’s daughter, suspension is threatened. Caroline breaks her daughter out of the principal’s office and with only the clothes on their backs sets off on a road trip back home to face the woman, once her best friend, who dumped her without a backward glance. What ensues is heartfelt, often funny and thought provoking, allowing Caroline a creative, if late, comeback and a stronger relationship with her daughter.
Matthew Dicks day job as a teacher brings credibility to scenes of school politics and student life. Assuming he was also once a student, that experience clearly helped shape his novel.
The Perfect Comeback of Caroline Jacobs (a perfect title) is a trip back in time that may dig up buried memories but may also offer a means to finally face them.
kategci's review against another edition
4.0
I received an ARC from BookBrowse.com in exchange for a review which I have posted there. This is my third Matthew Dicks novel and I enjoyed it. When Caroline Jacobs utters a 4 word insult to the PTO president during a meeting, it seems to unleash 25 years of pent-up hurt and disappointment which she has been carrying since high school. After her own daughter gets in trouble, Caroline takes her and goes back home to confront her bully all these years later. Matthew Dicks writes the mother-daughter relationship very well, although the several of the other characters were not as fully realized. a quick read, I recommend it to fans of Mr. Dicks as well as those who imagine what it would be like to go back in time and confront whoever may have made your teen years miserable.
growlcat's review against another edition
4.0
Caroline finally gets to tell a girl who bullied her in high school how she really felt and still feels. I wish I could do that.
shriti_sunshine's review against another edition
2.0
I think the title is misleading. What actually unfolds vis-à-vis what Caroline had planned in the beginning is like being disappointed by a tasteless soup, that initially looked scrumptious.
Nevertheless, I appreciate the Lucy subplot in the book. I can't begin to imagine the guilt Caroline must have been carrying around all these years, for her little sister's death. "You can't blame yourself!" - It's easier said than done. The girl first lost her friends, then her sister/companion. Life is daunting enough for a teenager, without the added anguish of loneliness and isolation. I understood Caroline's desperation to be accepted, I did.... but not enough to get over her wimpy behaviour and eventually, like her.
Nevertheless, I appreciate the Lucy subplot in the book. I can't begin to imagine the guilt Caroline must have been carrying around all these years, for her little sister's death. "You can't blame yourself!" - It's easier said than done. The girl first lost her friends, then her sister/companion. Life is daunting enough for a teenager, without the added anguish of loneliness and isolation. I understood Caroline's desperation to be accepted, I did.... but not enough to get over her wimpy behaviour and eventually, like her.
hmonkeyreads's review against another edition
4.0
This was a fast paced and easy to read book about a 40 something woman deciding to take on some of the demons that have haunted her since high school.
The overall plot is a little bit wacky (as all of Matthew Dicks plots are) but it all felt very true to me and as a person who is very much like Caroline, it brought back some familiar feelings from high school.
I also love this one sentence more than anyone should: "...when you're forty, you're not supposed to be this stupid."
The overall plot is a little bit wacky (as all of Matthew Dicks plots are) but it all felt very true to me and as a person who is very much like Caroline, it brought back some familiar feelings from high school.
I also love this one sentence more than anyone should: "...when you're forty, you're not supposed to be this stupid."
carolynaugustyn's review against another edition
3.0
This was definitely a good read- fast moving and sentimental in all the right ways- but I was left feeling like something was missing. Caroline and I have a lot in common (aside from similar names). Like her, I often revert to the push-over, silently suffering, "whatever you want to do is fine..." type. It's not good and is a difficult way to live life (or so my therapists tell me). So I completely related to Caroline's struggle to start speaking up and standing her own ground, it felt real and sloppy. The characters were all, in fact, perfectly imperfect, which is always nice to read. I think my main issue with the book and where I was left feeling the most "meh" was that there was often too much going on and not enough attention was given to the main issue. There would be moments I wanted to sit with a certain emotional scene and absorb it fully but we were already moving on to someone else's issue and a whole new emotional ride. I enjoyed the emotional aspect but I felt like it could be rather surface sometimes, mainly due to the amount of stuff going on distracting from the core issue. Overall, a nice read with lots of wonderful moments, just would have liked a little more stillness to let some emotions really sink in.