Zoë

Go find the short story that is the backstory for this book and read that first. Otherwise, you'll be wondering the whole time what you missed.

Perfection

This book has ruined me for all others. It will forever live under my skin, like a reed attempting to break free. Reader beware.

Fatphobic farce

Perhaps this book doesn't have a wide demographic, a deeper message (beyond life happens—take the good with the bad), or the complex, interesting characters readers might care about. What it does have is a little bit of a train wreck quality that makes the reader want to know what happens—something that is encouraged by the sprinkling of gossiped conversations about the sisters throughout the book. It meets all of the requirements for a white female with a stable, dysfunctional family looking-for-love/success/self whose only real struggle is some unresolved feelings from that time her parents got divorced kind of book. It was too much about the need to be with a man with literally everyone being matched up by the end. Most of the characters are unlikeable or unrelatable; all of the female characters are portrayed as petty, bitter, controlling, or flighty. Don't get me wrong. There were aspects of this story that felt almost insightful. I laughed, I cried, I gasped once, I think. I wanted to know what happened in a fast-forward the movie kind of way. Now that I think about it, it's not too different from Friends...if it had taken place in Australia, the characters were just a smidge older, and the women were triplet sisters with a shared trauma. If I could've given it 2.5 stars I would have. I rounded up because it wasn't terrible. It just wasn't great.

This book is a great primer. I think it would be appropriate for anyone who views life from a more spiritual/metaphysical place. This also is a great choice for someone new to the power of decluttering. It's inspiring; even for those of us who've been decluttering since we were kids.

This one is for the hyperactive and/or impulsive type. If you're inattentive you'll want to try elsewhere. Besides, Barkley comes off as self important and condescending which is very distracting.