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boreasword's review
emotional
funny
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
shh_reading's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
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? No
3.0
kimberussell's review
4.0
This is Elizabeth Gilbert's first fiction effort. This is not Eat, Pray, Love. Not at all. If you want Eat, Pray, Love ... read that book and not this one. The men here are not sexy. Our female protagonist doesn't travel far and wide. There is no pasta. Don't read Stern Men and complain that you're not getting Eat, Pray, Love. If you need that EPL tie-in to make it through the day, this was probably one of the books that caused Gilbert to constantly owe money to her ex-husband for the rest of her life.
Ruth Thomas, our heroine, is born and grows up in Maine on Fort Niles island. Fort Niles is a scrappy and tiny place for lobster fishermen and the women they love and/or abuse. If you can't or don't want to be a lobsterman, it's best you leave Fort Niles. But even though Ruth has a special connection that would allow her to leave and "do better," and she can never be a lobsterman, all she wants to do is stay. This book is about Ruth and how she finds her way. For most of the book, Ruth is 18 years old and acts it: smart and savvy yet raw and impulsive.
The two subplots include the story of Ruth's grandmother and her mother, and the bitter (and hilarious) lobster wars between Fort Niles and Courne Haven. I thought the characters were well-written and the research was impeccable. Gilbert must have spent months researching how lobstermen and the lobster business operate.
YOU MUST READ THE EPILOGUE. Sometimes I'm guilty of just skimming the epilogue because I've assumed all of the plot action happened already. Read the epilogue or else you'll just be depressed. I do wish the action in the epilogue was expanded on and made into actual numbered chapters. But I really liked this book, and can't wait to get into The Signature of All Things next.
Ruth Thomas, our heroine, is born and grows up in Maine on Fort Niles island. Fort Niles is a scrappy and tiny place for lobster fishermen and the women they love and/or abuse. If you can't or don't want to be a lobsterman, it's best you leave Fort Niles. But even though Ruth has a special connection that would allow her to leave and "do better," and she can never be a lobsterman, all she wants to do is stay. This book is about Ruth and how she finds her way. For most of the book, Ruth is 18 years old and acts it: smart and savvy yet raw and impulsive.
The two subplots include the story of Ruth's grandmother and her mother, and the bitter (and hilarious) lobster wars between Fort Niles and Courne Haven. I thought the characters were well-written and the research was impeccable. Gilbert must have spent months researching how lobstermen and the lobster business operate.
YOU MUST READ THE EPILOGUE. Sometimes I'm guilty of just skimming the epilogue because I've assumed all of the plot action happened already. Read the epilogue or else you'll just be depressed. I do wish the action in the epilogue was expanded on and made into actual numbered chapters. But I really liked this book, and can't wait to get into The Signature of All Things next.
thoroughly_bookish's review against another edition
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
3.75
I really love this author and even though I still am not really sure what the point of this story truly was…I still really enjoyed it. The story about Ruth and her island…had a lot of interesting and weird characters. The Lobsta Lore about the Lobsta Wars…and many other things made me truly laugh. I like it…I really can’t tell you why…but I liked it.
trin's review against another edition
3.0
A generally charming novel about the eccentric residents of a pair of Maine islands inhabited mostly by lobstermen. This book benefits from well-drawn characters and frequently fantastic dialogue, but is hampered by some pretty major pacing issues. Gilbert does a wonderful job creating Ruth Thomas and her world; Ruth is just the kind of heroine I like—tough and funny, far from perfect, clever but vulnerable—and I identified strongly with both her love for her small community, and her feelings of not quite fitting in there. However—the pacing. The book is slow to start and the end is incredibly rushed, to the point where Ruth’s arguably most important acts occur off-stage, between the last chapter and the epilogue. I was really thrown: why, instead of getting to see Ruth rise above a series of hard knocks and maneuver both herself and her island into a better life, are we just quickly told about these events in a few summary paragraphs? That almost felt like it should be the real meat of the novel, but it’s just glossed over. I was also disappointed that we didn’t get a resolution to Ruth’s mother’s story, and that Ruth’s love interest remained so lightly sketched (though there it may just be that taciturn guys are not my type). Like [book: The Pursuit of Alice Thrift] (and the more I think about it, the more this book reminds me of some of [author: Elinor Lipman]’s work), I loved the heroine and enjoyed the book, but was disappointed that it stopped just when things really started to get interesting.
krista_billings's review against another edition
1.0
Couldn't get past the first couple of chapters.
In fairness, I was listening to the audiobook, and the narrator's voice and her representation of the accent was what completely distracted me. Should I decide to attempt to read the printed book, might revise my writing.
In fairness, I was listening to the audiobook, and the narrator's voice and her representation of the accent was what completely distracted me. Should I decide to attempt to read the printed book, might revise my writing.
mxshining's review against another edition
3.0
I was disappointed in this book. I was expecting a lot more and I thought there was a lot of repetition in the book and it was also quite slow. The part of the book I liked best was the epilogue, because that was really interesting. That part should have been elaborated on. (I think, however, that I would have been less disappointed if the end of the story had not been described on the back of the book. That's kind of stupid...)
bookshopmermaid's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.0