A review by mrs_merdle
The Obamas, by Jodi Kantor

3.0

This was good. Very interesting inside look at the first term. Made me think a lot about the influence the First Lady has on the Presidency, which is often quite a bit and I think especially in this case where the marriage seems to be very much an equal partnership. Not always all that flattering of the President (although maybe just an honest look at his whole personality, not an Obama-bashing by any means, just not sycophantic), but definitely a sympathetic portrait of the First Lady who comes off well overall. The book was absorbingly written for the most part, but I feel like she lost the intensity a bit in the last few chapters, just as things were ramping up for the second campaign. I think she was trying to portray how comfortable they had become in the not always savory political world they inhabit, and which they had started out the first campaign and the Presidency by opposing, but she just somehow made things seem very bland and uninteresting. But overall a good and interesting read.