sweetheart_ok's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
This book slowly unravels two storylines that converge at the end. The characters are likable yet flawed, and the narrator clearly regards herself poorly while revealing her uncanny ability to choose fateful interactions. The contrast between the two stories is stark but codependent. Pratchett skillfully develops complex characters and complicated relationships in this tale of heartache, family, and a search for peace
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Suicide, Medical trauma, Misogyny, and Sexism
Minor: Racism, Adult/minor relationship, and Abortion
laurenleigh's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I mean Ann Patchett could write an Ikea instruction manual, and I’d read it. There’s something about her way of seeing the truth at the heart of things. And then she can actually communicate that! But her style is so accessible, not caught up in pretentiousness. I loved this book in particular because it was a bonding experience for my mom and I, just like the sisters and their mom in this story were connecting. State of Wonder is still my favorite of hers, but this is a close second! FYI, Our Town is a prerequisite for reading this.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction and Animal death
Minor: Abortion
rspinniken's review
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Minor: Abortion
jiscoo's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
5.0
quietly heartbreaking. life is so unbearably beautiful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Alcohol
Moderate: Abortion, Cancer, and Pregnancy
katiejohns's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism and Death
Moderate: Abortion
carriepond'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? No
4.75
Tom Lake is a reflective and beautifully written novel about family, love, and looking back. During the summer of 2020, while harvesting cherries with her three adult daughters as they quarantine on the family’s Michigan cherry farm, Lara regales them with the story of her romance with a famous actor she met while playing Emily in a production of Our Town during her brief stint as an actress. The story unfolds over the two timelines, cutting back and forth between 2020 and Lara’s life decades earlier as she shares (and sometimes doesn’t share) her past with her daughters.
“The painful things you were certain you’d never be able to let go? Now you’re not entirely sure when they happened, while the thrilling parts, the heart-stopping joys, splintered and scattered and became something else. Memories are then replaced by different joys and larger sorrows, and unbelievably, those things get knocked aside as well, until one morning you’re picking cherries with your three grown daughters and your husband goes by on the Gator and you are positive that this is all you’ve ever wanted in the world.”
I loved this book, about how different things look when you’re living them versus reflecting on them. Watching Lara reflect on what was a tumultuous and fraught time of her life from the vantage point of decades later, living a quieter life with people she cherishes, was particularly moving given that it was set during another tumultuous time— the early stages of the pandemic. I re-read Our Town right before starting this novel, and Patchett weaves its plot and themes throughout this novel beautifully and to great effect.
Another theme Patchett plays a lot with is how much of life’s unfolding is molded by destiny or fate versus chance and choice, as we watch Lara’s life be dictated by both: seizing the chance to play Emily in her community production of Our Town leads to landing the same role in college, where a movie director happens to be in the audience, which sets off a series of choices and happenstance occurrences that ultimately lead her to a Michigan cherry farm.
The story within a story also serves as an effective way to think deeply about different kinds of love: the heat and passion of youthful affairs, the steadfastness of marriage, and the push-pull of maternal love, the simultaneous desire to hold them close and let them loose. We watch Lara experience them all in this novel, each serving as a foil to the others in rewarding ways.
Loved this one. Highly recommend it for those who enjoy beautifully rendered family stories.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism and Vomit
Minor: Abortion and Cancer
hyuniecrisp's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Ann Patchett owns me
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic and Alcohol
Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, and Abortion
coffeekitaab's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I wasn't sure what I was expecting when I started reading this but it felt like a gentle stream that was taking me on a reflective journey; what happens when your kids want to learn about the summer when you, or Lara our protagonist, an aspiring actress at the time dated a famous actor, at a time when he was not yet famous. The intricacies and complications of what used to be simple relationships and the impact people have on our lives and how they can influence on our future. This felt like a warm hug in places and by the end I was in tears, such heartfelt storytelling. My first of Ann Patchett and certainly not the last. I would definitely recommend to everyone. Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an unedited and honest opinion.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death, Alcoholism, Drug use, Abortion, Blood, Alcohol, Cancer, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
deetabz's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Infidelity, Confinement, Mental illness, Blood, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcohol, Medical content, Death, and Pregnancy
Minor: Abortion and Racism