Cornelia Read

2.75 stars. this is a little hard to rate because i really enjoyed parts of this, but definitely not all of it, although i did mostly find her writing to be excellent.

i think, in the end, that i didn't like the mystery or feel like that was particularly well done, but that i did really like the rest. i thought the way she captured a way of thinking, the classism, the discontent, and also the friendships and love, was what carried this book. there was maybe a little too much voice; at times it felt like she was trying too hard, but mostly it felt really richly drawn, full of references that let you know where madeline came from and the things she cared about and related to. for that, i really thought this was great, and a truly excellent first book. i'm not totally sold on the mystery and there were a couple of significant chunks of the book where i stopped appreciating the voice and felt it was too overdone. so maybe that's a first book problem. her writing is absolutely good enough that i'd try her again.… (mehr)

After I read the 1st paragraph I thought this would be a fun book at the very least. I didn't know this was a series and haven't read the prior two so I don't have a comparison but the first major issue I had is all of the unresolved stories.

After the few times it was mentioning Maddie vomiting I already assumed pregnancy. It felt as though the reveal of it toward the end was an afterthought for the story, "Oh yeah, I'm pregnant." Honestly it felt like a 'blink and you missed it' type of thing.

Astrid was just nucking futs so the Nutty Buddy term was true but I felt like just a little more could have been written to help with the ending. At least point in a possible direction of what was going on between the relationship with her husband. Maybe all of the unresolved issues will be in the next book but I just didn't care for how it ended.

I was also confused on the last chapter. I assume it was a flashback of sorts with Maddie and her mother driving and witnessing a motorcycle accident. If it was, I am uncertain to how it tied into the book itself other than knowing her mom called Pierce over.


All in all the book was a decent read but I feel like the ending was just written with haste to finish the book. I feel obligated to read the prior books and newer books in the series (if there are any). Maybe taking it in as a whole series will help me understand and like it better, but as a single book... it was okay.… (mehr)