Lesa R

This book had me constantly feeling a different emotion with each chapter. I became so interested in what was happening to Anna that I could not put it down. It did have me at the beautiful cover painting and I do always love European based books, particularly Dublin, Ireland. I have to say I despised Peter Gallagher from the get go and I could not help but picture the actor Peter Gallagher throughout the reading! For those that do not know who I am talking about, I guess that shows my age a bit! He was popular back in the day. Anyways, I was mesmerized by the sad, emotionally insecure and tortured Anna. So desperate for love that she changes herself so drastically in her relationship with the kindhearted Karim. Her obsession with the Islamic Culture was extreme and maybe at times went on drastically long in description, but it was also a bit of an education for someone with no concept of the particular culture. Her best friend was always her beloved dog, Boo. Tears were shed regarding him. I truly loved this book, I have read it twice and cannot help but wonder what Anna is up to now. Sequel? Doubtful, but I would be delighted! Bravo Mary Costello! I sincerely look forward to more from you.

I was really intrigued by this book the minute I saw the funky, mesmerizing cover but of course, I never judge a book by this! This book was translated brilliantly by Ekin Oklap as I found it to be intelligently written as we go month by month through Cristina's (sometimes) tumultuous life. I can actually relate to her opting out of the whole social media insanity, but as time went by she eventually fell silent, I considered that a bit extreme but still understood why this was happening. It's hard to put into words all the emotions I feel she was going through but a lot was obviously family related. Her sister Elena almost seems cold in the beginning, but appears to care more than presumed by the end. I can see how this book may not be for everyone, but I found it to be very unique and feel it would appeal to a reader who also enjoyed Eleanor Olyphant is Completely Fine or the aforementioned Sally Rooney. I loved the book and look forward to more from this author.

I was anxious to read this book as I love when the topic is music/bands/1980's. The beginning of the book reeled me in but then I did feel after the CIA got more involved it became more hard to follow. I know these circumstances fit the history at the time but there were so many characters thrown in that it became hard to follow. But I did enjoy it after all and really dig Travis' prose and look forward to his future work as well. I really did like the way this book ended because it wasn't at all predictable or pathetic. Rock on!

I really loved this book that was at times, all over the place! I liked the interesting characters and their unique backrounds. I enjoyed the author, Sarah Braunstein's style of writing. I found it to be totally relatable and at many times, I laughed out loud or got that warm, fuzzy feeling from her subtle humor. I liked the edgy and unusual storyline as it was anything but typical. It was fun to try to picture these characters and put yourself in their shoes as for the most part, they were all hopelessly flawed.

For me, this is one of those books that when it ended, left me wanting to know what was next for these characters. Especially Maeve and her crazy escapades while Jack was away. I will certainly look for more from this creative, thought-provoking author and am so glad I got the opportunity to discover her work.

I really liked this book when I started it and was anxious to discover the fate of Sarah and Warren's future but as the story went on I started to really dislike the Warren character and his strange (at least to me) obsession with his adult daughter. I understand he wanted to keep the relationship he had with her which ultimately backfired on him which maybe he deserved. The Warren family situation seemed to take over the story, leaving poor Sarah in the background. It got to the point where I didn't care about what happened to these characters anymore. I was no longer rooting for their reunion. And the end made no sense to me. Very unsatisfying. But the writing was decent and I would read another book from this author.

I really enjoyed this sometimes heartbreaking book as I really like memoirs about peoples experiences with situations like Tanya's. I used to know someone a lot like Zach and so a lot of the things she wrote about I could relate to. It's amazing what some people have to go through in order to get a proper diagnosis and treatment plan for themselves or their loved one especially in a case like this where Zach had no control over his illness and could not help himself. As I mentioned, it brought back memories for me of someone I used to know who was schizophrenic. When he took his meds he was fine. When not, well that's another story. And I am not here to tell my story. Just comment that I, in a much smaller way than Tanya obviously, can relate to what she went through and I appreciate her sharing her very brave story with the world and I was happy to read her words.

I liked the book but found the "love" story too unrealistic in that one would leave their life after knowing someone for 3 days. Oddly enough, this is also what made it more interesting because things livened up a bit when Milena left. In my opinion some of it went on and on and left me wanting to skip over paragraphs to get to something better. I would describe Milena as a pretentious, entitled snob who only had sex in common with English poet Jason and that may be enough for some, but not for me. I just could not connect or feel any fondness for any of the characters and that I regret as the writing was quite lovely. I will most likely read this one again and maybe gain a different perspective.

I am not a big fan of vampire stories. No offense, I just never got into the genre as millions of others did. If it wasn't for the swift moving prose I may not have gotten through it. I found it to be much too long with confusing, unnecessary names and places being thrown in here and there. Some situations seemed to never be fully explained like the WWII section. Although I felt the book ran on and on I did particularly enjoy the Paul character the most and thought the ending made sense.

Although I could not relate to the subject matter of this new, sure to be a hit, Celeste Ng novel, I generally always can appreciate a story told through the eyes of a child. This is not a feel good tale. It is relevant and fierce and leaves you burning through the pages as you anxiously await for the fate of Margaret. I sometimes prefer to read certain books a second time almost immediately after reading it for the first time and this is one of those books. Maybe I felt I had a "time limit" since this review was pending. It left me feeling compassion for Bird and his hard knock life but also feeling like maybe something was missing.