tomaind's review
2.0
This story did not capture my attention & I thought the whole thing with the teenage daughter & the older man was gross. I just did not care for any of the characters in this story. I thought it was going to be a much better book than it turned out to be.
spiderfelt's review
1.0
Not wanting to spoil my upcoming bookclub discussion, suffice it to say that I did not give up on this book so much as I refused to finish it.
scorpstar77's review
4.0
This book was very well-written, and the story was compelling. I had a hard time putting it down sometimes, and so I couldn't allow myself to read any in the morning before work because I would have been late. Despite this, I gave the book only 4 stars because of how it made me feel - meaning that it's just a book about being sad. At least the first two-thirds of the book are all about how different family members are sad about a tragic death. Well, yeah - of course they are! It turns out that the point of the book is one particular child at that coming-of-age time in her life, and her affair with a much older man to cope with her grief, and her reconnection to her biological father to help her heal from both the death and her unhealthy affair (it was her step-father who died). But you don't really reach this point until you've read most of the book already. Since it seems this was meant to be Daisy's story more than anyone else's, it would have been nice to have the first half of the book set the reader up for understanding that it's her story.
nocto's review against another edition
3.0
Not my favourite of Sue Miller's books but not bad. It took a long time to get going but I think the build up worked. I don't want to give away what the story ends up being about - it begins when Eva's second husband John is killed and her family: John's young son Theo, teenage daughters Emily and Daisy and their daughter's father Mark begin to cope with this change in their lives. It's set some time in the recent-ish past and I was pleased the author wrote one of those reunion style last chapters set a decade or so into the future so you could see how everyone moved on. They don't always work but I thought it was an important part of the book here. Probably better than the three stars I have given it really.
turtlemagix's review
2.0
This book started off strong but quickly lost its steam for me. I found I didn’t really care about the characters and the “sex scenes” were extremely awkward.
Meh.
Meh.
tania_kliphuis's review against another edition
3.0
Man, Miller is good at detail. Overwhelmingly so, in fact.
The story centres on a broken family that are thrust back together when something awful happens to them. The youngest daughter, Daisy, is a bit of a misfit and she finds herself in quite a tricky situation.
It's not easy subject matter (and to be honest the plot isn't all that original and exciting) but it's so beautifully written.
I'll be looking out for more of Miller's books to read.
The story centres on a broken family that are thrust back together when something awful happens to them. The youngest daughter, Daisy, is a bit of a misfit and she finds herself in quite a tricky situation.
It's not easy subject matter (and to be honest the plot isn't all that original and exciting) but it's so beautifully written.
I'll be looking out for more of Miller's books to read.
sherdenise's review
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
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? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Death of parent
robinhigdon's review
2.0
listened to this in the car and I enjoyed it. it kept my interest throughout.