Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Mein Leben in deinem by Jojo Moyes

14 reviews

beckyyreadss's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I wanted to read this book because I enjoyed The Giver of Stars and the Me Before You series and wanted to see more of her work. This book was the first one where it seemed like a mission to finish it, and I didn’t really enjoy it.  

This book has two points of view. The first is Nisha Cantor and she has been living the globetrotting life of the seriously wealthy, until her husband announces a divorce and cuts her off. Nisha is determined to hang onto her glamorous life. But in the meantime, she must scramble to cope – she doesn’t even have the shoes she was, until a moment ago, standing in. That’s because of Sam Kemp – the second point view. She is in the bleakest point of her life, and she has accidentally taken Nisha’s gym bag. But Sam hardly has time to worry about a lost gym bag – she's struggling to keep herself and her family afloat. When she tries on Nisha’s six-inch high Christian Louboutin red crocodile shoes, the resulting jolt of confidence that makes her realize something must change and that thing is herself.  

The issue I had with this book that I hated both main characters; they were both so selfish and stuck up even though they were from “different worlds”. I get it, both of their husbands were so shitty people, but don’t be even shitter please. I also understand that these two were going through equally traumatic things but again, so is everyone don’t be a shitty person. People were obviously going to judge Nisha, she was an American walking round London screaming and in barely any clothes, I would have thought she belonged in a loony bin especially with how rude she was being. I don’t understand why she didn’t just go straight to the police or the embassy, they would have helped her. Sam was doing okay at her job but she was getting shit from her boss and then her husband is dealing with depression and yet all she’s complaining about is not being seen, like mental health is a rough subject and then she’s not being empathic and then just shouting at him, like her daughter was more empathic even if she thought Sam was having an affair (she might not have been having a text book affair, but she was definitely cheating). Sam needed to stand up for herself more and filled a complaint against her boss from HR, but again she was just like not my life. How many of us have got a crappy boss and still carry on with work? She wasn’t even looking to find a job and one just magically fell in her lap. The pacing of the book was so slow and both character’s inner thoughts was just boring, and I ended up skimming most of them where they weren’t talking to people, and they were just thinking about things. I would have liked more to do with the case, did Nisha testify? How did this go down with her rich friends? Did they all come out of the woodworks and support Nisha?  

Even though all the men in this book should have been shitty and have done shitty things. Phil’s depression and anxiety and him trying to talk to a therapist were so real and I liked watching him grow and realize that the depression isn’t taking over his life and showing how much of a struggle it is for men to open up with people. If Sam knew that Phil’s dad was begging and demeaning him to get him to kill him. Like you know how shitty that is? How would Sam feel, I bet that she would take her mum and dad complaining over random things that her dad calling her things to die. Aleks was so sweet as well and sort of proved that the best men and the most romantic doesn't have to be filthy rich, they can be homely and a gentleman and still be a head chef and things. I liked the friendship that developed but Jasmine was a saint to deal with Nisha just because she’s a good person.  

This was a disappointment for me and hoping that the next Jojo Moyes book I read is better than this and more like The Giver of Stars.  
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asourceoffiction's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

3.5

I really like how Moyes can handle heavy emotions sensitively, but can also delve into the ridiculous. Parts of this book were almost slapstick, and I was so here for it.

There's no getting away from it; the first half is pretty bleak, and the toxic masculinity is alive and well in an awful way. You know (or hope) that things are going to improve but for a while it feels like a drag getting to that point. Once Nisha and Sam's paths cross properly then the story gets really fun, and not a moment too soon.

My absolute favourite part of this book was seeing four completely different women come together and basically plan a heist. It's so much fun and pretty empowering. And the end manages not to be too predictable; there are touches that I didn't see coming, so even though it pretty much ends as expected, it is fun to see how we get there.
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stacylaughs's review against another edition

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inspiring sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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baizil_nut's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Charming book about overcoming challenges, female friendship, and literally walking a mile in someone else’s shoes.

I think the supporting characters could have done with some more fleshing out. For example, I like how Phil had his own short chapter from his perspective, and I think Jasmine, Grace and Ray would have benefitted from similar treatment. As it was those three characters didn’t fully make sense to me e.g. Jasmine, a black single mother working two jobs to support teenager daughter Grace, just let a wealthy white divorcee (and apparently other down on their luck strangers) sleep in Grace’s room with barely any questions asked… If I was Grace I would feel so unsafe in that situation. Then Ray being gay & suicidal felt like it was just used as a plot point to soften main character  Nisha, without really exploring Ray’s perspective or situation. And thenSam’s daughter Cat felt like a throwaway character to me- although funny that her mum is called Sam- was that consciously, subconsciously, or just coincidentally inspired by the Nickelodeon TV show called Sam & Cat? 😆

Overall a heartwarming story, just a couple of little gripes.
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vireogirl's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging funny inspiring lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Quite the mix-up! Hilarious at times. Interesting perspectives on people and real friendships. 
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kayleejanes's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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frenandjen's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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melarareading's review against another edition

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emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.25

Depressing to begin with, ending in predictable. This is not a romance. It is also not about friendship. It is an interesting book about a woman who accidentally takes someone else's shoes, ruined by the story of the woman who's shoes she takes. I can't even describe how awful I felt while reading this book, all the joy is completely missing until the 75% mark. 
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dr_readmore_17's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Not my favorite from JoJo Moyes. I did like that it discussed the difficulties of being a woman regardless of social class and how it unites us all but the plot seemed to drag a bit. 
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karyan1's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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