I was flailing for awhile this month, choosing an audiobook - starting and casting aside several that just weren’t doing it for me after feeling just so-so about Sisters First. I’m SO GLAD Annie Jones mentioned You’ll Grow Out of It on a recent episode of her From the Front Porch podcast! Indeed, this was HILARIOUS and made me guffaw repeatedly. Klein tells the most relatable stories about her career, motherhood, marriage, dating, friendship and just being a woman in the world. ‘Ma’am’ was probably my favorite chapter- highly recommend!
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The premise of this novel was gripping from the get-go. It certainly mirrors The Handmaid's Tale, and could very well be a precursor to how our society might easily fall into that particular brand of dystopia. The themes are also similar: power struggles between the wealthy and privileged vs the poor and desperate. With a more modern day take, the ethical and moral dilemmas abound, giving the reader a lot to chew on. Ramos' world building of Golden Oaks and all it entails was vivid and thought provoking.
”Because in America you only have to know how to make money. Money buys everything else.”
I also thought that there was a lot of food for thought about feminism, misogyny and racism. Yet it felt like more breadth than depth was given to these themes. Ramos utilizes archetypal characters rather than ones that really stand on their own as a fully fleshed out individuals. There was quite a large cast of characters in the book and I felt as if they could've been pared down significantly so that Jane could have been given a bit more oomph. Though she was somewhat unlikeable, Jane's cousin Ate has the most dynamic and full character arc. Alas, she is not who I wanted to be invested in, to be the hero of the story. I also felt frustrated by the ending, Jane's ending, even though it was probably the most plausible outcome for her and I turned the pages pretty furiously to get to the conclusion.
Overall this was an entertaining read that was driven by plot and juicy 'what if?' scenarios. It would make for an good summer read, and definitely a book club pick - lots of moral choices to dissect.
Many thanks to Random House for the complimentary advance copy in exchange for my honest review!
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I love hearing Mastromonaco on Pod Save America and finally picked this one up on audio. This is exactly what I wish From the Corner of the Oval had been! (Spoiler: I didn't like it.) I loved the inside look at the White House, the personal dramas and funny moments that shone through the truly fascinating inner workings of the government. While I found Beck Dorey-Stein frustrating, Matstromonaco comes across as humbled, hard working and full of wisdom from her experience.
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Oof. Home Fire is really well done and so tragic. Going in, I knew it was an interpretation of Antigone as a way to tell a story about immigrants and radicalism. I didn't remember much about it from my college mythology class, though it just so happened that my son was recently on the school production team of Antigone, refreshing my knowledge of the story. Still, knowing the bones of the plot and the ultimate fate of certain characters, it was gut wrenching. Shamsie brilliantly shows how shockingly easy it is to make Antigone relevant thousands of years later.
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I normally love a novel that reads like connected short stories, but this one felt somewhat disjointed. I lost the thread of characters that I wanted to spend more time with, though the ideas within are so important and should be talked about more.
"The wound that was made when white people came and took all that they took has never healed. An unattended wound gets infected. Becomes a new kind of wound like the history of what actually happened became a new kind of history. All these stories that we haven’t been telling all this time, that we haven’t been listening to, are just part of what we need to heal. Not that were broken. And don’t make the mistake of calling us resilient. To not have been destroyed, to not have given up, to have survived, is no badge of honor. Would you call an attempted murder victim resilient?"
I did find the writing to be absorbing and unique. The plot that follows a dozen native Americans on their way to a Powwow, which you can see coming from the first pages, is still a gut punch in the end, which is no small feat. I’m glad I finally read it after it has garnered so much attention and acclaim since it's publication.
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I have stopped and started this review so many times over the last week! It’s hard to review a book I loved, to articulate what gives it that something that just resonates - much harder than reviewing one I disliked. I love a dysfunctional family drama, one that spans decades, one that has multiple narrators, and a gut punch ending. Ask Again, Yes checks all of these boxes and that 'something more' quality which keeps a book on my mind long after I've finished turning the pages.
I think that what I found unique was the author's ability to take a narrative full of high drama (secret love, a gruesome shooting, a character sent to an asylum and more) and give it a nuanced, introspective tone that was so compelling. Normally I do not gravitate towards books that are heavy on characters inner lives and short on dialogue, but not in this case. It is such a quietly told, yet riveting story. Keane writes evocatively of each character's stage in life and I completely understood and empathized with their choices and emotions - especially Kate as she transforms from the stubborn little girl to the headstrong young woman, and eventually, the strong willed mother trying to keep her family together. And that's the crux of this story, that from one vantage point in your life you can see things in a completely different way than another: childhood versus adulthood, being a child versus being a parent, witnessing depression versus being caught in it's cross hairs. Every single character in this book can be considered villainous and also heroic at various points in the story. It's beautifully told, how none of us can be entirely one or the other, how humanity is fallible and also worthy of love.
"...their worry for Peter, the person they each loved most, bound them, put them in the same boat together, and they could either row hard as one or else drift while he drowned nearby."
The title of this book is such perfection and I would so love to share the titular quote, but it would give too much away and I think it's so impactful after coming all this way with these characters. I will think on it often, how I wouldn't change a thing and think 'YES' to all the messiness that life throws our way.
Many, many thanks to Scribner books and Netgalley for a complimentary advance copy for review!
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This was a cute premise for a romance novel, and it’s funny because I lived THIS EXACT SCENARIO in my 20s: I was a production assistant at an awesome boutique advertising agency that was merged with a lame big box corporate one and became a true nemesis with the other production assistant. The difference here is a merging of two publishing firms (though boutique vs big box still stands) and the other assistant at my firm was truly an absolute troll (no hard abs with a soft heart to be found) and I high tailed it outta there, finding another job ASAP! Alas, I wish I had the forethought and talent to turn it into an adorable and steamy love story...
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I put this book off for a long time, because it’s not particularly uplifting material. I didn’t always reach for it, and it took me a long time to finish, but it is such an essential read. Poverty is so much more complicated than it seems and Desmond deftly crafts personal stories, of those he lived among to do his research, to elucidate this crisis.
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I first heard about The Current on the From the Front Porch podcast, and it's made the What Should I Read Next summer reading guide - I can certainly see why: I’m not usually a thriller fan, but this one had excellent character development and a mesmerizing ethereal tone. It can feel languid it parts, and my expectations going in were for something fast paced, so I had to adjust those expectations. I also felt like the end was a little ambiguous and I wanted to know MORE! Sequel perhaps?
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My expectations were pretty high going into this book, as I think Mindy is pretty awesome and I'm just now getting into The Office. I know, I know. We tried getting into it last year but it just made me so uncomfortable and, honestly, angry. Perhaps it's because I'm a former HR professional, but Michael Scott freaking sucks in the first season. How am I supposed to enjoy a show where the main character is awful? The endearing side has yet to appear because he's not much better in season two, but we're seeing some bright spots and I want to know what all the fuss is about, so we're sticking with it. ANYWAY. It was fun to get some inside baseball on her career, the show and some of the inner workings of Hollywood. But the tone just felt... juvenile? I just hated all of her self depreciating talk of her body, food, dating, etc. It makes me curious to check out her more recent book to see if her tone has matured.
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