A review by rrickman33
Cobble Hill by Cecily Von Ziegesar
4.0
3.5/5 stars rounded up
I thought this book was enjoyable and i'm surprised it's not being talked about more. Following 4 couples and their children in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn we get to see a peak into a very small tight-knit community. I liked reading along the characters journeys even if some of them were quite all over the place (people casually going to jail, cheating, lighting things on fire, etc).
The book leads up to a 'final night' were all the characters and their stories come together. I was very underwhelmed by this final night and wondered if I was missing something but it appears I was not once the epilogue a year later ends the book. That was it. I wish there had been more to this finale of sorts after so much character development and plots. There were also plots that didn't really go anywhere like the woman's murder in the newspaper that kept being sprinkled in chapters then completely disappeared...?
One of the larger problems I had with this book was how many times it used the word 'fat'. This fat kid, she's fat, I have gotten fat. Like YIKES it was a bit much. I understand characters having weight issues and difficulty with their appearances but random characters with no names were being called fat. Pretty much someone was fat or you could see their bones, I really didn't read anything in-between the two and it felt unnecessary. I hate fat-shaming culture and it's part of my personal soap box as a dietitian but also there's quite a large group of people that don't want to read the word 'fat' on every page either that aren't dietitians.
That word choice aside this novel is a long character driven story leading to a big night where they all come together. If you enjoy stories like that then you should enjoy the book as I did!
I thought this book was enjoyable and i'm surprised it's not being talked about more. Following 4 couples and their children in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn we get to see a peak into a very small tight-knit community. I liked reading along the characters journeys even if some of them were quite all over the place (people casually going to jail, cheating, lighting things on fire, etc).
The book leads up to a 'final night' were all the characters and their stories come together. I was very underwhelmed by this final night and wondered if I was missing something but it appears I was not once the epilogue a year later ends the book. That was it. I wish there had been more to this finale of sorts after so much character development and plots. There were also plots that didn't really go anywhere like the woman's murder in the newspaper that kept being sprinkled in chapters then completely disappeared...?
One of the larger problems I had with this book was how many times it used the word 'fat'. This fat kid, she's fat, I have gotten fat. Like YIKES it was a bit much. I understand characters having weight issues and difficulty with their appearances but random characters with no names were being called fat. Pretty much someone was fat or you could see their bones, I really didn't read anything in-between the two and it felt unnecessary. I hate fat-shaming culture and it's part of my personal soap box as a dietitian but also there's quite a large group of people that don't want to read the word 'fat' on every page either that aren't dietitians.
That word choice aside this novel is a long character driven story leading to a big night where they all come together. If you enjoy stories like that then you should enjoy the book as I did!