A review by snowmaiden
The Whole World Over by Julia Glass
4.0
I read this book based solely on my love for another book by the author, [b: A House Among the Trees|32337896|A House Among the Trees|Julia Glass|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1498055278l/32337896._SX50_.jpg|52974828]. I don't think I even read the whole description before deciding, because honestly, once I saw the words "coconut cake," I knew it was the right book for me! That probably explains why I was under the impression that this would be a light romantic novel, when actually it's anything but.
There are four point-of-view characters here: Greenie, Walter, Saga, and Alan. I expected to like the Greenie parts best, since she's the first character we meet and also a baker. I did love her story and all the wonderful descriptions of food and cooking therein (and I also enjoyed Walter's as well), but the character who really captivated me was Saga. This is pretty interesting, since she's only peripherally related to the other three characters. Sometimes it seemed that she'd come over to visit from a different book. I know that Glass sometimes transplants characters from one novel to another (I found out only after I'd read this book that Fenno, the neighborhood bookstore owner here, is the main character of a different Glass novel), and I wonder if there is another Saga book out there somewhere. I must investigate.
Parts of this book are set in New York City and other parts are set in New Mexico. Both settings are very evocative, and I want to move to both places now!
The only part of this book that didn't work for me was the ending. We end up with two couples, and neither of them really work for me. One makes no sense to me at all, since the entirety of the book right up to the last chapter seems to be pointing to a different relationship, while the other seems like a good match but comes out of left field. I'm really perplexed by this. It's as if Glass was writing one novel and suddenly decided she actually wanted to write a different one. Maybe the book didn't sit long enough before being rushed out by the publisher, or maybe she got bad editorial advice. I'm not sure, but I've decided this just has to be one of those cases where I remember a different ending than what the author actually gave me.
This disappointment is enough for me to knock the book down from the five-star rating I was sure it was going to get from me, but I hope it doesn't discourage you from trying this book for yourself. There is much to love here!
There are four point-of-view characters here: Greenie, Walter, Saga, and Alan. I expected to like the Greenie parts best, since she's the first character we meet and also a baker. I did love her story and all the wonderful descriptions of food and cooking therein (and I also enjoyed Walter's as well), but the character who really captivated me was Saga. This is pretty interesting, since she's only peripherally related to the other three characters. Sometimes it seemed that she'd come over to visit from a different book. I know that Glass sometimes transplants characters from one novel to another (I found out only after I'd read this book that Fenno, the neighborhood bookstore owner here, is the main character of a different Glass novel), and I wonder if there is another Saga book out there somewhere. I must investigate.
Parts of this book are set in New York City and other parts are set in New Mexico. Both settings are very evocative, and I want to move to both places now!
The only part of this book that didn't work for me was the ending. We end up with two couples, and neither of them really work for me. One makes no sense to me at all, since the entirety of the book right up to the last chapter seems to be pointing to a different relationship, while the other seems like a good match but comes out of left field. I'm really perplexed by this. It's as if Glass was writing one novel and suddenly decided she actually wanted to write a different one. Maybe the book didn't sit long enough before being rushed out by the publisher, or maybe she got bad editorial advice. I'm not sure, but I've decided this just has to be one of those cases where I remember a different ending than what the author actually gave me.
This disappointment is enough for me to knock the book down from the five-star rating I was sure it was going to get from me, but I hope it doesn't discourage you from trying this book for yourself. There is much to love here!