The plot may be a common one—a woman who was just broken up with by her partner deals with the emotional upheaval by shutting down & eventually finding her new self—but the different ways authors approach it are what make readers enjoy the stories.

In her new novel, Tara Conklin leans heavily on humor & quirkiness to relate how Darcy Clipper, a sheltered 29-year-old, ends up coming out of a depression & using people in her hometown community of Murbridge, MA, to build her up after her husband Skip leaves her for another woman.

After retreating to her childhood home in Murbridge (and realizing her parents have up & moved to a retirement community in AZ without telling her), Darcy stays holed up in the house, eating canned food from her parent's pantry & getting her only "human" interaction from the funny, rude, sad, and intriguing messages the other residents of the town leave on the community message board. She also talks to Fred, the fern she had growing up—which is no longer in her house.

At first it's endearing and funny, but then it just becomes a bit too frivolous—all without much serious emotional reflection and change. I felt bad for Darcy, but, more often, I lost emotional investment in her challenges because of the constant community board postings, drafted emails, and chatting with phantom plants. I felt horrible for her, but I couldn't get too emotionally attached to her journey since she seemed to default to humor instead of actual emotional assessment and change.

I really wanted to love this one—but, unfortunately, I didn't. As a main character, Darcy just seemed too one-dimensional. The story does have its moments of humor and heart, but somehow it didn't gel together to be a completely satisfying read or even a distinct take on a well-worn but still viable girl-loses-partner-but-finds-herself narrative.