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There are currently 24 member reviews
for Margot
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Jean F. (Bradenton, FL)
Coming of Age in the free-roaming 60's yet hobbled by her upbringing
I wanted to love this book, but I didn't. I did like how Steavenson deftly captured the Harvard milieu (buildings and Cambridge streets) and the frenzied, overwrought 1960's fueled by lots of sex, drugs, and alcohol. Margot, albeit blessed with a financially rich childhood, is squelched by her mother's cruel belittling and, as a result, lacks self-esteem. Her mother's goal is that she marries a rich man and replenishes the family coffers. I enjoyed Margot's scientific zeal and her developing expertise in the laboratory and hoped that would translate to a better sense of self. It didn't really.
Overall, I was disappointed in Margot and thought one of her sexual encounters was gratuitous and not essential for the plot. The childhood sections were slow going, but I found the book flowed more smoothly once Margot was at Harvard. For me, the ending was sad, or perhaps open-ended enough to allow for a sequel. Descriptions are raw and messy at points. I think future readers will have strong feelings about whether they liked the novel or didn't like at all.
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Shelby K. (Salem, OR)
Margot
It's hard to describe why a certain writing style doesn't work for one person, but may for another. This one wasn't my favorite, but I did find enough interest in the storyline to keep going, and after procrastinating at around 20 pages in, I tore through it in an afternoon. I felt a lot of emotion for the protagonist as she navigated a change of class, a quickly changing world, and tried to find herself within it's context. There are a lot of themes to reflect on within these pages, and it captured numerous aspects of the times during which my own mother was coming of age. I imagine this might be very interesting for someone who had less anecdotal knowledge of the times. I appreciate the STEM aspects. Thank you BookBrowse, for providing a review copy in exchange for my honest review.
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Junko W. (Pahoa, HI)
Prelim to a sequel?
Margot opens when the title character is a young child growing up with a privileged lifestyle in 1950's New York. The story follows her growth into adulthood. Her relationship with her harsh and shaming mother is one of the central themes of the book. I hoped that Margo would come into her own as she reaches adulthood. We are left hanging with an ending that calls for a sequel. I am not invested enough in the character to want to read it if there really is a sequel.
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Joanne W. (Ossining, NY)
Oh Margot!
Margot is tall and smart and awkward and her Mom is not happy about that. In the rarefied world of wealthy Long Island and NYC Margot does not fit in.
It was so interesting watching her learn to love herself and make her way in the world through the turbulent 1960s. Allowing herself to feel smart and desirable, to make some true friends and to make some big mistakes along the way. We are introduced to her childhood friends and college comrades. We see her find her place in the science department where she feels most at home. And we are left with her taking a big leap with lots of unknowns and we are left wanting more.
I thoroughly enjoyed Margot. I recommend it to any woman who has ever felt not enough, who has struggled to find her way with all that life has thrown her way!
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Susan C. (Little Silver, NJ)
The Ending of Margot made me angry!
Margot started off great. I loved the descriptions of the families and their conspicuous wealth and East Coast elite class status. I found it interesting that Margot's mother lost all of her status and wealth
At this point the book was a solid 4 stars. Margot's years at Radcliffe were fascinating and very relatable. I was in college in New England 15 years later but not much had changed so I found myself nodding at a lot of the experiences Margo had. The scientific parts of the book were a bit dense but still mildly interesting.
I get to the last few pages of the book and started to feel like Margo was going to make her way positively in the world - make some proper choices and become a great trail blazer.
And then it ends - not as I expected and not tragically but with so many questions I thought I was missing chapters. Is there going to be a part 2? Hence the reason for my Average rating.
I am sure other readers will disagree with me but that is the beauty of the forum right?
Thanks to Book Browse - I did enjoy reading Margo and it did provide me with a visceral response to the ending so always fun.
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Michele N. (Bethesda, MD)
Margot
It's been 24 hours since I finished Margot and I'm still not sure what I think about the book. The beginning was difficult to read as her mother was increasingly harsh and cruel. Her experiences in a prep school seemed "normal" as did her mother's desire to see Margot find a husband and settle down. I liked that despite a financial setback, she didn't give up on going to college. I could relate to the time period. But I was constantly distracted by the author's writing style of incomplete sentences and words strung together. The editor in me kept looking for verbs. And it didn't add anything to the story line. It was an okay read but doubt that I would recommend to anyone.
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Laura C. (Woodworth, LA)
Margot
When Margot Thornsen "slips the leash" and goes off to college, she is on a mission to make up for the independence she has been denied all her life by her constantly critical, overbearing, meddlesome, alcoholic mother who has no goal for her daughter other than that she marry well and soon. But without a solid foundation and with extremely low self esteem, Margot makes bad even disastrous decisions and choices at every turn. Although Margot attends Radcliffe during the free-wheeling 1960s, the many descriptions of drug use and casual sex are excessive in my opinion and detract from the story. The long description of Margot's early life among her dysfunctional family makes the first third of the book a slow go. Character development is adequate but I hoped Margot would eventually learn from her many missteps and her new environment, giving reason to be optimistic about her future. I found the ending disappointing, although as a previous reviewer has suggested, perhaps the author is considering a sequel.
