Eduardo Santiago
Part One was irritating, often to the point of being grating: a shallow, self-absorbed, successful, privileged, hyperdramatic white woman has a midlife crisis, ditches commitments and responsibilities, starts lying pathologically to her partner and child, and becomes infatuated with a prettyboy two-thirds her age. Do I really need to keep reading this? No--said my friend A.--I didn't care for it either, but there are almost-redeeming aspects later on. I trust A. So I made it through Part Two, in which infatuation becomes obsession and the drama escalates with anxiety on top.
Part Three, thankfully, was a big improvement: mature, intelligent themes of adult relationships. Frank conversations and redefinitions and accepting of responsibilities and life challenges. (This is not the same as saying that the protagonist navigates the process of growing up; I will let each reader decide on that). New sets of problems and of course drama, but more fulfilling this time. I'm glad I kept going. Can't say I enjoyed the book as a whole, but it did spark good conversation. Unrated because I don't really have the right.
Part One was irritating, often to the point of being grating: a shallow, self-absorbed, successful, privileged, hyperdramatic white woman has a midlife crisis, ditches commitments and responsibilities, starts lying pathologically to her partner and child, and becomes infatuated with a prettyboy two-thirds her age. Do I really need to keep reading this? No--said my friend A.--I didn't care for it either, but there are almost-redeeming aspects later on. I trust A. So I made it through Part Two, in which infatuation becomes obsession and the drama escalates with anxiety on top.
Part Three, thankfully, was a big improvement: mature, intelligent themes of adult relationships. Frank conversations and redefinitions and accepting of responsibilities and life challenges. (This is not the same as saying that the protagonist navigates the process of growing up; I will let each reader decide on that). New sets of problems and of course drama, but more fulfilling this time. I'm glad I kept going. Can't say I enjoyed the book as a whole, but it did spark good conversation. Unrated because I don't really have the right.