Colleen Hoover I read Everything I Never Told You this year and I really liked it although the characters were heavily flawed. Then all of a sudden in the last 100 pages, Violet accepts Jonah, apologizes to him and and everything is fine and dandy. A famous painter. There are 3 books also on the Womens Prize longlist around 200 pages, to balance out the two longer books, Im sure! Were glad you found a book that interests you! I know that's a long way to get in a book and then put it down but I had this on audio and I couldn't take the narration anymore. On the heels of Wendys birth, Marilyn becomes pregnant with Violet and the tumultuous child-rearing years begin. In painting this luminous portrait of a familys becoming, Lombardo joins the ranks of writers such as Celeste Ng, Elizabeth Strout and Jonathan Franzen as visionary chroniclers of our modern lives. Claire Lombardo's debut is a fascinating epic character driven, multi-generational Chicago family drama with all its complexities through the decades from the 1970s. Instead, there are plenty of life events. characters the right way, I did think she failed to dig into the criticisms enough to make them strong themes in the book, which definitely explains to me how readers arent tolerating those moments well, whether they see the purpose behind them or not. More points for Lombardo. Set in the Chicago suburbs, Lombardo's book has been compared to The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen's seminal ode to a dysfunctional Midwestern family. It also exposes Davids somewhat secretive but platonic dinners with Gillian after work. The prevalence of plot points only made possible thanks to a steady flow of cash is not so much a criticism of the novel as it is something to be aware of before reading: If problems of the rich arent your cup of tea, this book isnt for you. By 2016, their four radically different daughters are in a state of unrest. This time were looking at Claire Lombardos The Most Fun We Ever Had, one of the largest books on the list at over 500 pages. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. This book makes you feel emotions you never knew you had. Based on Claire Lombardo's 2019 novel of the same name, "The Most Fun We Ever Had" follows four sisters, each struggling to exist in the shadow of their parents' idyllic marriage, whose. Moving on. Lombardo flings a full deck of narrative cards at us all at once, which she spends the next 500-plus pages patiently putting in order. At 544 pages, you get to know them, along with their struggles and joys, pretty well. Jonah lives with Wendy and then moves to his grandparents house, but never lives with Violet and her family. The author hinted that the child's mother had sex with someone another sister would find upsetting. FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP. A multigenerational novel in which the four adult daughters of a Chicago couple--still madly in love after forty years--recklessly ignite old rivalries until a long-buried secret threatens to shatter the lives they've built. Sydney and Ridge make beautiful music together in a love triangle written by Hoover (Losing Hope, 2013, etc. She wonders how her daughters could have all turned out so markedly different, not only from one another but also from her. Title: The Most Fun We Ever Had Author: Claire Lombardo Genre: Fiction Publishing Date: June 25th, 2019 Pages: 532 Rating (5.0 Scale): 5.0 Synopsis (from cover): When Marilyn Connolly and David Sorenson fall in love in the 1970s, they are blithely ignorant of all that's to come. Great review, Emily. The ruthless competitiveness between these sisters is the driving force of the novel. When she receives her final rejection letter, she lies about her acceptance. I hope youll have a good time with it if/when you pick it up! The narrative alternates between flashbacks and the present, such that the former gives much-needed context to an otherwise convoluted and detail-packed story. hide. Many, many character povs and lots of timeline jumps. Amy Adams, Laura Dern to Produce 'The Most Fun We Ever Had' Adaptation at HBO By Joe Otterson Doubleday/Claire Lombardo HBO is developing a series adaptation of the Claire Lombardo novel "The. You will never not be entertained. Doubleday, 2019. CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE | Now Im curious as to how the grandparents handled and may have to check this book out for myself. ROMANCE | Change). Flashbacks describe Marilyn and Davids early marriage in Iowa, where Marilyn becomes pregnant and drops out of school. The central narrative arc of the work begins in Chapter One with the Spring of 2017, and ends on December 10, 2017, in The Midst of Life. The novel focuses on the extraordinary marriage of Marilyn and David Sorenson, and the byproduct of their incredible union, the four Sorenson girls. Theres four of you? he asked. ( Reading Goldfinch was not challenge, it was long and all those amazing sentences needed to absorb slowly like sipping a cold, splendid, special drink which burns down your throat and awakens all your senses! I appreciated your probing more into the themes of the novel and how they didnt seem to illuminate anything beyond the specific situation of this family. She makes you want to yell at the book and throw across the room. I do think Lombardos a good writer- I loved seeing how well she fleshed out all of these characters, how the four very different sisters personalities tracked across decades of their lives and how they all interacted with each other. How? Trust me. How each character deals with that child is demonstrated. The really tragic thing about this spoiler is that whoever has created it probably thinks that they have been really creative and innovative, whereas, in reality, they have just made their slightly shabby sports car look even trashier. The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo review - family friction A restless mother and meddling sister trigger family reprisals in this nuanced, polished debut Claire Lombardo: 'a keen. Newcomer Lombardo brews all seven deadly sins into a fun and brimming tale of an unapologetically bougie couple and their unruly daughters. #haunted #haunting #ghost #mystery #strange. It's really hard to believe that 'The Most Fun We Ever Had' is a debut novel. Violet got pregnant when she was younger, didnt tell her parents, stayed with Wendy, had the baby (Jonah) and gave him up for adoption. I really enjoy books with different perspectives and this one definitely satisfied all of my perspective needs. At times, it feels as though there are too many details, too many implausible things that go wrong, tied up with all-too-convenient deus ex machinas. But its the uptight second child, Violet, who is the source of the big family scandal: Her son, born without her parents knowledge, was given up for adoption and rediscovered 15 years later thanks to the pointed meddling of the eldest sister, Wendy, a dissolute young widow who resents Violets inability to appreciate her own luck. Next up is Violet, unassuming and mild. Liza, the second youngest, has just received tenure but is ensconced in a difficult relationship with Ryan, who is depressed. Your email address will not be published. Liza becomes unexpectedly pregnant and begins an affair to avoid dealing with her relationship issues. If this book were a meal it would be a 10-course dinner with quite a few savory morsels, but settle in because youll be cutting through a bit of fat and gristle and theres going to be a lot chewing. Engrossing and fun but surprisingly shallow seems like a succinct way to say it. Also, nothing was happening for me. Ah yes, I was so confused about what the author was trying to say about marriage, since all of these characters seemed so quick to condemn this really successful one! The oldest daughter is an erratic alcoholic racked with grief; the second is a control freak who doesn't want to meet the son she put up for adoption 15 years ago; the next is pregnant and falling. While music student Sydney is watching her neighbor Ridge play guitar on his balcony across the courtyard, Ridge is watching Sydneys boyfriend, Hunter, secretly make out with her best friend on her balcony. But this book? But Ridge cant hide his feelings for Sydney longand they face their dilemma with refreshing emotional honesty. You have to really like these characters to spend time in their lives and inside their heads for days at a time. Jonahs not much younger than Grace, the baby of the family, who is hiding out in Portland, living a lie about her law-school status and worried that she is a giant disappointment to the parents she reveres. Too long for the lack of plot and underwhelming and boring characters. WE GET IT. Hoover is a master at writing scenes from dual perspectives. A character driven book needs characters that I actually like. Ooh nope, its one of the four girls who gives a son up for adoption, hes a grandson of the girls parents! In fact, it creates opportunities for sexy nonverbal communication and witty text messages: Ridge tenderly washes off a message he wrote on Sydneys hand in ink, and when Sydney adds a few too many es to the word squee in her text, Ridge replies, If those letters really make up a sound, I am so, so glad I cant hear it. While they fight their mutual attraction, their hope that maybe someday they can be together playfully comes out in their music. To make it extra easy for you . It reads, eventually, as a deliberate and fascinating commentary on how a particular kind of moneyed white family can choose the degree to which they engage with such unpleasantries. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated. Everyone got a completely different character, which you wouldn't necessarily have had if you had just picked "whoever I retired for". There is certainly some redemptive growth, but its a long journey getting there. Fast forward to present day, Wendy tracked down Jonah and found out that he needs a home. I listened to the audio on a staycation so I'll remember it for a while as the book that kept me company, especially since the audio wouldn't end. The outside world barely enters into the cosseted lives of the Sorensons. Keep it Clean. Lombardo levels this vision by interspersing chapters of the Sorenson parents early lean times with chapters about their daughters wobbly forays into adulthood. 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