Goodreads | Belong to Me: A Novel

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Lara rated it:

(review of isbn 0061240273)

05/01/08

bookshelves: for-harper-collins

Read in April, 2008

I'm basically copying this from what I wrote on my blog, which is why it's so lengthy:

I thought this was positively delicious. And I’m not just saying that because I got the book for free, either. I’m not afraid to trash free stuff, you know (Hi there, Old Navy Jeans! You still suck!). I’m saying it because it really is lovely.

I first encountered Ms. de los Santos’s writing when I picked up her book Love Walked In off one of those tables at the megabookstore with the “buy 2...more I'm basically copying this from what I wrote on my blog, which is why it's so lengthy:

I thought this was positively delicious. And I’m not just saying that because I got the book for free, either. I’m not afraid to trash free stuff, you know (Hi there, Old Navy Jeans! You still suck!). I’m saying it because it really is lovely.

I first encountered Ms. de los Santos’s writing when I picked up her book Love Walked In off one of those tables at the megabookstore with the “buy 2 paperbacks for the price of 3″ signs or whatever. I don’t think I’ve ever hidden the fact that I am a sucker for an attractive book cover despite all proverbial advice not to choose one’s reading material (or anything else) that way, and the cover for Love Walked In spoke to me. Anyway, I ended up loving the book and was so pleased to learn that de los Santos was building further upon those characters with Belong to Me.

Reading Belong to Me is like walking around with one of those geared-towards-children “READING IS FUN!” posters pinned to your back. That’s what it is: pure, unadulterated fun. It is a 390-page reminder of why I love to read. It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me roll my eyes at the questionable realism, it made me snort, it made me nod my head in agreement, and it made me want to jump into the pages and hang out with most of the characters and then it made me want to jump out of the pages and hang out with the author. I mean, sure, we read books sometimes because we want to be moved at our very core or because we want to feel intellectual or because we want to learn or because it won a Pulitzer or a Booker Prize or whatever. But sometimes we read to be entertained. Belong to Me does just that - and the best thing about it is that it does that without being too embarrassingly vapid or chick lit-ish.

It doesn’t hurt that I want to be friends with Cornelia Brown, the main character, either, despite the fact that she describes herself as weighing about the same as “your average sack of groceries” (I tend to resent thin people). I can get past that - easily - with her description of her first suburban dinner party:

“It was a pastel-colored prairie of linen pants and sleeveless tops, stretching in every direction as far as the eye could see. I stood on its edge and felt myself in my dress turning - subtly, like an early-autumn leaf or a days-old open bottle of red wine - from easy and elegant to overreaching and tarty.”

And then, later, as she so appropriately describes the way I feel at most events involving my in-laws:

“‘I’m good at dinner parties!’ I wanted to shout. ‘Dinner parties are my natural habitat! I am appropriately dressed and good at dinner parties!’”

Cornelia, honey, you’re not alone.

I don’t want to ruin the book for you by telling you much more, since I suck at keeping secrets and will inevitably overshare too much of the plot, but you should definitely read this. Set down War & Peace for a little bit and settle in for some scrumptiosity (a word, I promise!). And Ms. de los Santos, if you’re anything like Cornelia or Clare or any of your other characters (hell, even Piper-like-viper-but-with-a-p) and you’re up for a chat over too much wine, I’d be honored to join you. I can’t wait for your next book to come out....less

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Anna rated it:

(review of isbn 0061240273)

07/26/08

bookshelves: chick-lit, fiction

Read in July, 2008

recommends it for: Readers who like lots of mundane detail, long sentences, and an overabundance of commas!

Okay, so this is your classic Marisa de los Santos -- LOTS of commas, unnecessary detail, and probably one too many plot lines interwoven together... She's definitely a talented writer but I think she needs better editors. And she needs to stop it with the insanely long, comma-laden sentences!!!

I'm really torn on whether or not to say this is a "good book" because I think parts of it certainly are good but on the whole I kind of struggled with huge chunks (amounting to probably ha...more Okay, so this is your classic Marisa de los Santos -- LOTS of commas, unnecessary detail, and probably one too many plot lines interwoven together... She's definitely a talented writer but I think she needs better editors. And she needs to stop it with the insanely long, comma-laden sentences!!!

I'm really torn on whether or not to say this is a "good book" because I think parts of it certainly are good but on the whole I kind of struggled with huge chunks (amounting to probably half the text). The author is HORRIBLE at writing interesting introductions/beginning parts of her novels so the first 100-150 pages or so were really pretty dull and confusing and I ended up skimming much of it. Many of the characters carried over from Love Walked In -- Cornelia, Teo, and Clare. I suppose I should've liked them and cared about them (since I did in the previous novel) but interestingly enough they were entirely flat and boring this book! Cornelia, especially, because the author tried SO HARD to make her funny and witty and likable but I could not get myself to care about her. The much more interesting characters were the new ones -- Piper, Dev, and to an extent, Lake. The plot twist -- the attempt to tie the new and old together -- seemed pretty contrived but at the same time was a bit shocking. I don't know if this means I am oblivious or if I skimmed over some important parts, but I was actually surprised.

I have no idea why the author felt compelled to add Lyssa as a background character. I also didn't buy Rafferty's character one bit. Even Lake seemed too psychotic from the beginning for me to really like her but at least she was more interesting than boring, annoying Cornelia.

But... despite of all my negative comments, I have to acknowledge that parts of this book were really good. I read some chapters in their entirety and found them to be interesting. This was especially true for Piper's storyline. The author did an excellent job of developing her character and making her very human and likable and I think the chapters about her were the best ones in the whole book.

So, I am giving this book 2 stars even though 2.5 is much more appropriate but I can't quite say I "liked it."

Also, just a side comment, it really bothers me that two of the four authors whose "praise" they quote on the back cover of this novel are in fact [what I would consider:] "bad" authors. Jennifer Weiner, who describes absolutely every piece of chick-lit as "wickedly funny" or "bewitching," and Karen Joy Fowler, whose novel The Jane Austen Book Club is consistently one of the lowest rated titles on Goodreads. ...less

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Tiffany rated it:

(review of isbn 0061240273)

08/20/08

Read in May, 2008

This is a book about how people become yours simply because you choose to love them. The characters are real individuals... so unique that their 3 dimensional qualities remind me of the writing of Charles Dickens. There isn't a sentence that comes out of the mouth of any of the characters that doesn't truly belong to them.
Marisa de los Santos is so talented in her ability to express emotion and especially the elusive emotion of love that her writing made me want to weep and cheer at the same ...more This is a book about how people become yours simply because you choose to love them. The characters are real individuals... so unique that their 3 dimensional qualities remind me of the writing of Charles Dickens. There isn't a sentence that comes out of the mouth of any of the characters that doesn't truly belong to them.
Marisa de los Santos is so talented in her ability to express emotion and especially the elusive emotion of love that her writing made me want to weep and cheer at the same time.
"When he looked up, he said, 'Clare told me about Christmas.' And I swear the boy's face began to shine. I recognized what I saw there; that a person's name could be infinitely precious, that just saying it could make you feel singled out for glory."
My favorite passage is about when one of the characters is six years old. Everyone is swimming at the community pool, but she is afraid of the water and cannot join in. Her eight year old future husband comes up to her and says kindly, "you're missing the whole point of summer," and offers to teach her to swim. And, she talks about how his touch made her feel safe and how she learns to swim and then she says, "When I was no longer six years old, when I was a grown woman whose belief the possibility of safety, while far from shattered had suffered the inevitable hard hit or two, Teo's touch did not displace fear as absolutely as it once had. But it was still true that his skin on mine worked a kind of instant, inexplicable possibly chemical magic. When he touched me, the world fell into alignment -- a laying on of hands, a chiropractic of the soul-- the threat of drowning evaporated, and hope cast its light. I know this sounds dramatic, but what would you have me do about it? Some things are dramatic. Put it this way if you prefer; under Teo's touch, I could believe in happy endings. Or middles. Or beginnings."
There are so many good books, but one of the qualities of great book, in my opinion, is one where the great beauty of the language and the truth of it makes you want to open your heart a little wider and be just a little better. So, if you're looking.. this is one of those rare books.
...less

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margueya rated it:

(review of isbn 0061240273)

09/21/08

I had bought both books together not knowing much about them, I didn't even realize they were connected (was actually afraid I had bought a collection of poetry by mistake) so I am happy I read them in the right order. This sequel is better than the first in a lot of ways - the characters have more edge, the plot is less predictable. While the premise (city girl moves to suburbs, insert cliched snarky lines about soccer moms in their SUVS baking muffins for the new neighbor while gossiping abo...more I had bought both books together not knowing much about them, I didn't even realize they were connected (was actually afraid I had bought a collection of poetry by mistake) so I am happy I read them in the right order. This sequel is better than the first in a lot of ways - the characters have more edge, the plot is less predictable. While the premise (city girl moves to suburbs, insert cliched snarky lines about soccer moms in their SUVS baking muffins for the new neighbor while gossiping about her behind her back) is not in any way original, it was nice to at least meet some mean people in de los Santos' Sweet Valley world. However, this was another case of overblown characters (villains and heroes well defined) and what really annoyed me was her perpetuating her own weakness, as in, heroine is looking forward to an evening with a friend, but hastens to add, dont get me wrong, I love my husband with all my heart and soul and cherish every moment with him, I just needed some girl time. It's ok, Marisa, we weren't about to call in a relationship specialist or lose starry eyed love for your perfect man and woman with their perfect marriage (as is affirmed by every character who meets them) - in fact, not only is it normal for her to disentangle herself from her unbelievably (you got that right) good looking husband, but it would actually be refreshing if they existed in any mode other than inhumanly perfect - and while they do hit a rather large bump, it's still encased in plastic for the most part and seems removed from reality.
However, while the junior high maturity factor of every good character going to an ivy league while bad characters do not and all that was super irritating, I STILL really enjoyed reading it for its well paced and high quality talent as far as overall narrative and dialogue goes. In this book she does pull a lot of that Piccoult stuff that I cannot stand, setting the scene up to end with that perfect last line or clincher moment or whatever, but if you can roll your eyes past it it's a very enjoyable Shabbos afternoon read....less

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Kristen rated it:

(review of isbn 0061240273)

08/13/08

bookshelves: goodfiction

Read in August, 2008

This book isn't normally something I gravitate toward. It involves suburban housewives, happy families and fairly predictable plot "twists." It also treads dangerously close to the cliche theme of "love and friendship will prevail if we just learn to forgive." Clearly de los Santos' wanted the book's legacy to be uplifting and tidy. That's okay--it just isn't normally my style.

BUT!

I still enjoyed it a good deal. I really liked the main character and found de lo...more

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Karma rated it:

(review of isbn 0061240273)

07/21/08

Read in April, 2008

I LOVED this book! In many ways the plot was unoriginal - finding your true self by not being afraid to deviate from social norms and expectations, women learning to get past stupid assumptions and biases, etc. Sometimes the writing verged on arrogant; either over simplifying the complex or alternately making complex the simple. BUT, then she would put words to a feeling or thought that I didn't even realize I felt or had thought! Her descriptions of motherhood were so beautiful and stunning...more

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Tamara rated it:

(review of isbn 0061240273)

06/04/08

bookshelves: crowd-pleasers

Read in June, 2008

recommends it for: Jodi Picoult fans

I have to preface this review by saying that I am very dense. There is no other explanation for the fact that it took me almost 75 pages to realize this was the sequel to Love Walked In and not just the author's second novel. Sigh.

Similar in style to Jodi Picoult and Anne Tyler (without Picoult's cult following and only if Anne Tyler were prescribed Prozac and a shot of Oprah.) This is one of those books that I find to be perfectly imperfect. I have the desire to dissect it, but in t...more

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5 comments

Sarah rated it:

(review of isbn 0061240273)

07/25/08

Read in July, 2008

This was my first ebook on my Kindle which I think is at least in part what I liked so much about it.

The story is told from 3 different characters points of view with chapters alternating between them. I enjoyed this literary device very much because I thought the characters were well developed, believable and quite interesting. They were also complete enough and different enough that I always knew whose perspective I was reading about. The author did a neat job of allowing us to know what ...more

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Sera rated it:

(review of isbn 0061240273)

09/19/08

bookshelves: literary-fiction

Read in September, 2008

recommended to Sera by: Sarah

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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3 comments

Cheryl rated it:

(review of isbn 0061240273)

08/16/08

recommends it for: Great for bookclub ( Donna)

I picked this book up when I saw it sitting by itself in the library. It is generally not " my kind of plot" but I have to say I really enjoyed reading it because of the wonderful character development throughout the story. I ended up really liking most of the characters although there were a couple of weaknesses I can not mention so as not to ruin the storyline.

The first half of the book is a bit long winded blah, blah, blahish but by the second half of the book I was really draw...more

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Roxy rated it:

(review of isbn 0061240273)

07/03/08

bookshelves: are-you-gonna-make-me-cry--, book-club-selection, general-fiction

Read in June, 2008

*sigh* finally finished it!! This book was a selection for my non-GR bookclub and not my choice. I'm not going to describe the story line because I suck at that so all you are getting, as usual, is my opinion.

The first half is difficult to read. The author loves to embellish everything. Paragraph upon paragraph of description of something that is not even that important to the storyline. I'd say she spends the first half of the book just describing the characters. I put the book down ab...more

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Whitney rated it:

(review of isbn 0061240273)

04/18/08

Read in April, 2008

Loved, loved, loved, loved, loved LOVED this book. It was the kind of book that I would think about all day... dying to get home and pick it up again. I even started bringing it on my lunch break and reading it in the park-- I couldnt get enough! I can't remember the last book I read that I became so obsessed with.

You have to read Love Walked In before you read this one in order to truly fall head over heels in love with Teo, Cornelia, and Clare... and then in Belong to me you will fall MO...more

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Stephanie rated it:

(review of isbn 0061240273)

07/13/08

Read in July, 2008

It wasn't until the climax of this story that I realized I was truly enjoying it. It took a long time for the characters to "come together" and I found myself struggling to get through chapters dedicated to certain individuals. Still, the outcome of the character's collision with one another made it worth the wait. In whole, it was a beautiful story.

I absolutely loved the relationship between Cornelia and Piper. I fell in love with Cornelia while reading "Love Walked In"...more

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mellymel rated it:

(review of isbn 0061240273)

04/15/08

Read in April, 2008

Utterly readable, even if you haven't read Love Walked In, this story stands alone. The author (a poet) has a lovely fluid style. She makes the reader privy to all of the private thoughts (and this is a VERY thoughtful bunch) and weaves it all together with just enough history and background that the story makes sense. And I especially enjoyed how it explored women's friendships - the work it takes to make friends in adulthood. So often characters are "lifelong" friends or fall easily ...more

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8 comments

Pam rated it:

(review of isbn 0061240273)

02/02/08

bookshelves: fiction

Read in February, 2008

02/02/08
TITLE/AUTHOR: BELONG TO ME by Marisa de los Santos
RATING: 4.5/B+
GENRE/PUB DATE/# OF PGS: Fiction/2008/288 pgs
SERIES/STAND ALONE: Stand Alone
TIME/PLACE: Present/suburb of Philadelphia
CHARACTERS: Corneila Brown/wife to Teo/dr
FIRST LINES: My fall from suburban grace, or, more accurately, my failure to achieve the merest molehill of suburban grace from which to fall, began w/ a dinner party & a perfectly innocent, modestly clever, & only faintly quirky remark abo...more

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Juli rated it:

(review of isbn 0061240273)

04/16/08

bookshelves: 2008, favorites

Read in April, 2008

recommended to Juli by: the galoshes! or, the author's name being on the cover was enou
recommends it for: all of you! <3

I have so much love for this book and this author. Lookit the cover! With galoshes! And uneven page ends! Believe it or not, the inside is even better. :P

I bought it on Saturday, and then had so much to do all weekend, that I ended up reading it all night Sunday night, after carrying it around with me everywhere. This is the sequel to Love Walked In, which is possibly my favorite book ever (or at least in a four-way tie :P), and if you haven't read it, go out and get it. Now.

Marisa...more

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Fran rated it:

(review of isbn 0061240273)

07/13/08

Read in July, 2008

i started reading this book last week when i borrowed it from my library. BUT it was only a 7-day loan and no renewals allowed. i read feverishly for several days, and i even bought myself time IN the library for an hour before i had to go home, on the day it was due. but, alas, i have 103 pgs to go and I REALLY want to finish it. but with going on vaca for over a week, i won't be able to take it out again to read over the vaca. i'll be back to finish it SOON!

***********Got the book yest...more

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Claire rated it:

(review of isbn 0061240273)

08/09/08

Read in July, 2008

recommends it for: anyone who liked Love Walked In

A fantastic follow-up to her first book, Love Walked In. I think I might have even liked Belong to Me more! The book relies on several stock plot points: boy searching for his father, the interweaving of several families in a small town, a girl coming of age, etc. but uses lots of new ideas and unique characters, making it not feel hackneyed at all.

One of the main characters, Cornelia (whom we know from Love Walked In), is a bit self-indulgent at times (not with her actions, but with her d...more

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Gail rated it:

(review of isbn 0061240273)

05/11/08

bookshelves: read-in-2008

Read in May, 2008

A devoted city dweller, Cornelia Brown surprised no one more than herself when she was gripped by the sudden, inescapable desire to leave urban life behind and head for an idyllic suburb. Though she knows she and her beloved husband, Teo, have made the right move, she approaches her new life with trepidation and struggles to forge friendships in her new home. Cornelia's mettle is quickly tested by judgmental neighbor Piper Truitt. Perfectly manicured, impeccably dressed, and possessing impossibl...more

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Linda rated it:

(review of isbn 0061240273)

07/04/08

This is one of the best I've read in a long time. I didn't want it to end, but when it did, it ended perfectly. Even the acknowledgmt. to her husband, "...whose many gifts include changing the way time moves," what a well-loved husband she has. I loved every character so much that it never bothered me to go from one to another. Marisa del los Santos intertwined their lives brilliantly. Teo and Cornelia were a "perfect" couple who met their "trials" head on Pip...more

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