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abookishaffair's review against another edition
4.0
The Kunitz family is falling apart. From the outside, the family looks sort of perfect. They have parties. Both of the parents are social. The children are fantastic but the whole family is sort of falling apart at the seams. When Sarah's mother dies, the whole family's life changes and Sarah seems to be wondering if anything will ever be steady again.
This is both a coming of age story and a family story. Sarah, who is at the center of the story, is the one that really comes of age. She's very naive at first and gets in way over her head. She learns that there's consequences for everything and you can't really just stick your head in the sand.
The real star of this book is Keener's writing. She writes in such a way that you really feel for the characters even though some of them are not the most upstanding or make the best decisions but you still feel for them as fellow humans.
Keener also does a great job with building the world of that the Kunitz's live in: 1970s Boston area. It's still a time of change and turmoil as you can see from some of Sarah's dealings at school. The Kunitz family is Jewish and that group is still not fully accepted. Sarah doesn't understand why it has to be that way and in some small way tries to fight it by hanging out with her Italian friend.
Bottom line: This is a solid read with a story that will hook you.
This is both a coming of age story and a family story. Sarah, who is at the center of the story, is the one that really comes of age. She's very naive at first and gets in way over her head. She learns that there's consequences for everything and you can't really just stick your head in the sand.
The real star of this book is Keener's writing. She writes in such a way that you really feel for the characters even though some of them are not the most upstanding or make the best decisions but you still feel for them as fellow humans.
Keener also does a great job with building the world of that the Kunitz's live in: 1970s Boston area. It's still a time of change and turmoil as you can see from some of Sarah's dealings at school. The Kunitz family is Jewish and that group is still not fully accepted. Sarah doesn't understand why it has to be that way and in some small way tries to fight it by hanging out with her Italian friend.
Bottom line: This is a solid read with a story that will hook you.
duranceau22ced's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Tied up a little too nicely in the end, but interesting read and like how podcast chapters were mixed in
thereadinghammock's review against another edition
2.0
The book felt disjointed. I kept waiting for the story to circle back to the "present day" for Sarah, but it never really did. I never felt I could relate to Sarah and her plight. I empathized for her and the loss of her mother at such a crucial time in her life. Every girl should have a mother to help her through those messy and confusing teen years. But I felt like even if her other hadn't gotten in the accidents, she never really would have been there for her. In true New England WASP fashion, her mother was detached and distant. Not an involved and dedicated mother.
All in all, it was fairly well written, but I just couldn't find myself lost in the story.
All in all, it was fairly well written, but I just couldn't find myself lost in the story.
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