atirandomness's review against another edition
2.0
Hm. Well. This is a story about a girl (Jane) who likes a guy (Duncan) and she lives.
That’s it. That’s the story.
We’re just following limp noodle Jane as she lives her mostly uneventful life. She has zero depth, zero personality, zero realism and zero logic. She just sort of exists and wants to get married. She’s friends with a bunch of equally ridiculous and underdeveloped characters. Duncan is the main love interest and his entire personality is “guy who slept with a ton of women and doesn’t want to get married”. There’s a second love interest briefly and his personality is “guy who does want to get married”.
Anyway, some shit happens and Jane irrationally decides it is her responsibility to take care of the developmentally challenged Jimmy whose sole purpose in this story is to be developmentally challenged. (Don’t even get me started on the way the author handles special needs characters)
Once Jane starts caring for Jimmy her personality shifts to “Girl who feels responsible for Jimmy and also still sorta wants to get married” So the book goes on for several more agonizing chapters that are just filled with Jane taking care of Jimmy and Duncan not wanting to get married. I won’t spoil the nonexistent plot for anyone who’s fresh out of wet paint to watch but basically very little happens after that. Jane and Duncan get married and have kids but not even for normal reasons. It’s not a love story. They’re not sweet and cute. He still doesn’t want to get married. They just exist. Which is more than I can say about the plot.
Which does not.
Exist that is.
There is no plot. No conflict, no growth, no moral… just vibes. Boring vibes. The few times a whiff of drama comes along, we get a time jump that blasts us a few years into the future where the issue is resolved so we don’t have to talk about it.
I’m actually really proud of myself for finishing this non story.
Everyone in this book is ridiculous. Their actions and reactions are ridiculous. The things they say, think and feel are ridiculous. It’s all just RIDICULOUS. And managing to achieve “ridiculous” in a story where absolutely nothing happens is. fucking. ridiculous. If this story were written by an author who knows how to do character development and has the ability to create real, relatable and complex characters (like [a:Suanne Laqueur|8317803|Suanne Laqueur|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1403016536p2/8317803.jpg] for example), I possibly could have enjoyed this story.. maybe... But if you want me to sit around and watch your characters just live their lives with no real plot, you have to meet me halfway. This author/reader relationship is an equal partnership. You GIVE and I mostly take. BUT SOMETIMES I give a pass for boring stories. BUT I ONLY GIVE THOSE PASSES !!!! WHEN !!! you have characters who feel like real people with interesting personalities who I can care about. There are some fictional book characters out there who I could read about all day.. They don’t need a plot because they’re fun and interesting to just hang out with. .
There are less than zero characters like that in this book. There isn’t even a cute dog to care about. This shit should have stayed in the drafts folder but I’m going to give 2 stars because the audiobook narrator (Kate Rudd) is someone I usually avoid because she has a bland voice and sort of reads like she doesn’t have a nose and there’s like a 1.5% chance she’s the reason this story was so bland to me. I doubt a more lively narrator could have made a difference considering the whole no plot/no personality thing but I’m in a good mood so take my pity star and like it, damnit!!
That’s it. That’s the story.
We’re just following limp noodle Jane as she lives her mostly uneventful life. She has zero depth, zero personality, zero realism and zero logic. She just sort of exists and wants to get married. She’s friends with a bunch of equally ridiculous and underdeveloped characters. Duncan is the main love interest and his entire personality is “guy who slept with a ton of women and doesn’t want to get married”. There’s a second love interest briefly and his personality is “guy who does want to get married”.
Anyway, some shit happens and Jane irrationally decides it is her responsibility to take care of the developmentally challenged Jimmy whose sole purpose in this story is to be developmentally challenged. (Don’t even get me started on the way the author handles special needs characters)
Once Jane starts caring for Jimmy her personality shifts to “Girl who feels responsible for Jimmy and also still sorta wants to get married” So the book goes on for several more agonizing chapters that are just filled with Jane taking care of Jimmy and Duncan not wanting to get married. I won’t spoil the nonexistent plot for anyone who’s fresh out of wet paint to watch but basically very little happens after that. Jane and Duncan get married and have kids but not even for normal reasons. It’s not a love story. They’re not sweet and cute. He still doesn’t want to get married. They just exist. Which is more than I can say about the plot.
Which does not.
Exist that is.
There is no plot. No conflict, no growth, no moral… just vibes. Boring vibes. The few times a whiff of drama comes along, we get a time jump that blasts us a few years into the future where the issue is resolved so we don’t have to talk about it.
I’m actually really proud of myself for finishing this non story.
Everyone in this book is ridiculous. Their actions and reactions are ridiculous. The things they say, think and feel are ridiculous. It’s all just RIDICULOUS. And managing to achieve “ridiculous” in a story where absolutely nothing happens is. fucking. ridiculous. If this story were written by an author who knows how to do character development and has the ability to create real, relatable and complex characters (like [a:Suanne Laqueur|8317803|Suanne Laqueur|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1403016536p2/8317803.jpg] for example), I possibly could have enjoyed this story.. maybe... But if you want me to sit around and watch your characters just live their lives with no real plot, you have to meet me halfway. This author/reader relationship is an equal partnership. You GIVE and I mostly take. BUT SOMETIMES I give a pass for boring stories. BUT I ONLY GIVE THOSE PASSES !!!! WHEN !!! you have characters who feel like real people with interesting personalities who I can care about. There are some fictional book characters out there who I could read about all day.. They don’t need a plot because they’re fun and interesting to just hang out with. .
There are less than zero characters like that in this book. There isn’t even a cute dog to care about. This shit should have stayed in the drafts folder but I’m going to give 2 stars because the audiobook narrator (Kate Rudd) is someone I usually avoid because she has a bland voice and sort of reads like she doesn’t have a nose and there’s like a 1.5% chance she’s the reason this story was so bland to me. I doubt a more lively narrator could have made a difference considering the whole no plot/no personality thing but I’m in a good mood so take my pity star and like it, damnit!!
unfiltered_fiction's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
almacd13's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.0
clarasn's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
esey18's review against another edition
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
esther_talbdt's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
maricat82's review against another edition
2.0
For me, two stars means, "this was a book that I read." I'm not mad that I read it, but maybe a little confused. Nothing really happened, the characters didn't really develop, and then it ended.
ehiggs88's review against another edition
emotional
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
3.75
giannanigroithink's review against another edition
5.0
one of my favorites books i have read this year.. i love how the author writes incredibly honestly and you can see parts of yourself in so many of her characters