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What Members Thought
Since I didn't feel this was chick lit, I'm not posting a review at my blog. I will share my thoughts here though.
Overall, it was entertaining. It has a mockumentary feel with all the different "voices" narrating it. I love that Maria Semple wrote for "Arrested Development." I was cracking up when the words "maritime lawyer" were mentioned.
The descriptions made things easy to visualize. The characters were just so "out there." I loved reading Soo-Lin's perspective. She was the most fascinating ...more
Overall, it was entertaining. It has a mockumentary feel with all the different "voices" narrating it. I love that Maria Semple wrote for "Arrested Development." I was cracking up when the words "maritime lawyer" were mentioned.
The descriptions made things easy to visualize. The characters were just so "out there." I loved reading Soo-Lin's perspective. She was the most fascinating ...more
Well, I didn't expect most of that.
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One Fun Read.....
Why's that?
Maybe it is because:
*I have a fascination with cold places
*I love books that use various forms of correspondence
* I dig a spunky female narrator
* I love berries and blackberries play a role in this work, you'll just have to read it to find out.
* I like being able to laugh at the absurdity of society and this book gave me ample fodder for this. Granted, I almost fell off the elliptical and was attracting the odd reactions from my fellow gym goers on one occasion. So s ...more
Why's that?
Maybe it is because:
*I have a fascination with cold places
*I love books that use various forms of correspondence
* I dig a spunky female narrator
* I love berries and blackberries play a role in this work, you'll just have to read it to find out.
* I like being able to laugh at the absurdity of society and this book gave me ample fodder for this. Granted, I almost fell off the elliptical and was attracting the odd reactions from my fellow gym goers on one occasion. So s ...more
I was really enjoying this book until the very end. The story is told though a series of letters, emails, and personal narratives, all explaining (or trying to) the events leading up to the disappearance of Bernadette Fox. It would be perfect except the ending. That damn ending.
An funnyish epistolary novel. Original and not what I expected at all, although I wasn't entirely satisfied with the ending. Saw lots of good reviews for this book before I picked it up and it was good although perhaps not quite as good as some of the reviews said.
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I wish for half stars. I feel like this is somewhere between a 3 and 4. The ending wasn't as satisfying as I would have liked, and quite honestly I had to make myself finish the last 30 pages or so. But the rest of the book was a fun and funny read and commentary on life in Seattle. I'm really unsure of how appealing this book might be to people outside of Seattle; it feels like an awful lot of inside jokes and references and I wonder if a reader might feel alienated a little by that? But Bernad
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I can't decide what to make of this book. I'm torn between finding it tiresome and funny, sourly off-key and charmingly quirky. For much of the book I gritted my teeth as despicable characters went on at length in ridiculously flowery detail that stretched even the bounds of satire, and at other times I recognized scenes and interactions that I knew well and had personally experienced (which is not to say I found them funny or anything I was eager to interact with again even in book form). Event
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The best way I can I describe this is book is compulsively readable. I really enjoyed the format of the first 3/4 of the book: emails, faxes, notes, etc compiled by the daughter interspersed with her commentary here and there. I was a bit disappointed when the final third that broke away from that a bit towards a more traditional storytelling, but I couldn't justify giving a book that I liked so much I finished it in 3 days anything less than a 4 star review.
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I agree with those who called this a "cerebral beach read." I like the way you got an idea of the people involved by various emails and police reports. I didn't expect to enjoy this book as much as I did.
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Loved it! Mother daughter dynamics felt right, and even when I was over Bernadette I still adored her.
Fast, fun, breezy. An absolute pleasure to read; I've already forgotten most everything about it; if you ever travel anywhere or go on vacation, this is probably the most perfect book imaginable.
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Hilarious and spot-on take on Seattle, plus a fun and quick read.
Oct 27, 2013
Lori
added it
