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Jen
her character just didn't feel authentic to me. felt more like a caricature than a real person and definitely overplayed. And if you're reading the book let me tell you, no matter how annoyed you are, i can guarantee its worse when listening to the audiobook. Lulu as voiced by the reader is painful.
Lisa
I am listening to the audio book right now and I also dislike
Betsy so much. Also, having a hard time with believing parents and grandma put up with her selfish and petty behavior. But anyway, I am laughing now because I googled, "I hate Betsy and Home Front" and this whole queue came up.
Betsy so much. Also, having a hard time with believing parents and grandma put up with her selfish and petty behavior. But anyway, I am laughing now because I googled, "I hate Betsy and Home Front" and this whole queue came up.
Jacquie
Agreed, I had to put the book down because Betsy was making me far too angry.. I cannot believe any real parent, especially in the military, would find that disrespectful behavior 'okay'. But other than Betsy -- I enjoy Kristin Hannah's writing and continue to be a huge fan!
Nancy Au
I wanted to slap Betsy silly! She was a real brat!
Janet Wymyslo
unfortunately , I have known teenagers just like that. At that age, the hormones start raging, and it's all about them. Take into account that her father was not involved in her life for the first 12 years, which didn't help.
Cobygirl517
HATED spoiled, bratty Betsy, and HATED obnoxious, irritating, spoiled Lulu. Definitely ruined the book more than anything else. I found a lot of things irritating, but these two are the WORST.
Karen
I agree with Patty. She basically ruined the book for me. As much as I liked Wintergarden and Nightengale...Betsy's character was the ruin of this book..along with her bratty friends. (they deserved each other) .
Meredith Lynch
YES!!! my LEAST favorite part of this book and I was so over it by the end b/c of her...I don't have children and this confirmed why LOL
Bibi
oh my god. i wanted to smack both of those girls! how entitled! how thoughtless! how inconsiderate! even the toddler... whiny beyond anything i would've put up with. i could sympathize with them at first, but all Betsy could think of was how her mom would "look," and all the toddler did was cry.... it's hard to believe these two came out of Joline. they almost ruined the book for me. i cannot imagine either of my daughters acting like this ever. when my youngest was 4 we took care of my stepmom, and with all the chaos and sadness that surrounded that, she was the light that kept us all going.... i would have much rather seen that happening. BUT over all, this was a great book that portrayed PTSD authentically - believe me, I lived with my ex-husband's for 10 years. It's no picnic.
Diane
Betsy should be glad she's not my kid. She'd have had that behavior and whining, once. The second time she'd be slapped silly and grounded for the rest of her years!
Linda
I think that there may have been more to the background of Betsy and Lulu than the author allowed us to see. We do learn that there are years between the two births without an intervening birth and that the mother in law helped keep Jolene positive while she hoped for another conception. If the author had indicated a history that documented Betsy's dethroning and subsequent antagonism toward the little one and also the reason why each of these kids is nearly sacred to the parents--and not necessarily realistically disciplined--we could take them more seriously.
[Note: I have been a middle school teacher. "Meteoric" and such is not sufficient to explain the rudeness of Betsy. Kids in 7th grade still believe a little bit in magic, etc. They swing from childish to comically worldly. But they also understand that they are pushing boundaries and are constantly testing parents and teachers, which is actually in part a security thing. They want reliability in their lives, so they can be unreliable and test things.] What bothered me more was that the parents didn't give the kids tasks. They have no responsibilities. These kids essentially have two slaves who are incidentally their parents, plus a grandma who gives too much leeway also.
I was bothered by the way that the son of Betsy's close friend was treated. There was some kind of lesson in friendship, parallel to their mothers' friendship, which was never developed. Perhaps it is that friendships develop between people, not between people who are incidental to a different friendship of someone else's.
[Note: I have been a middle school teacher. "Meteoric" and such is not sufficient to explain the rudeness of Betsy. Kids in 7th grade still believe a little bit in magic, etc. They swing from childish to comically worldly. But they also understand that they are pushing boundaries and are constantly testing parents and teachers, which is actually in part a security thing. They want reliability in their lives, so they can be unreliable and test things.] What bothered me more was that the parents didn't give the kids tasks. They have no responsibilities. These kids essentially have two slaves who are incidentally their parents, plus a grandma who gives too much leeway also.
I was bothered by the way that the son of Betsy's close friend was treated. There was some kind of lesson in friendship, parallel to their mothers' friendship, which was never developed. Perhaps it is that friendships develop between people, not between people who are incidental to a different friendship of someone else's.
Cate
Yes! She was the reason this book dropped to 3 stars. Lol!
Composting Charm
This book was like an ad for birth control. Betsy was over the top horrible and just never got better.
Jenelle Garlow
Came to Goodreads just to say I hated both the kids in this book !!!!
Dot
Absolutely. Did Hannah ever have a teenage daughter? The snarky self centered selfish monster was a hollow attempt at a teenage girl trope. I hated this book and that brat was a big part of why.
Emerald Dodge
Kristin Hannah's continual use of the bratty teen/preteen girl in her books has really started to grind on me.
Jody M Beitzel
Hated the character of the girls. So immature. If I heard one more time Betsy asking What is wrong with you, I’d have thrown the book! Ruined the story.
Audra
YES! I couldn't finish the audiobook because that character was too annoying.
Janis
Yes, Betsy was beyond "over the top"! I actually thought both daughters were overplayed. Lulu who was either 4 or 5 after her birthday, was so immature. I don't think that age child begs to play patty-cake or is as completely lacking in understanding as Lulu was.
Other than the daughters, it was a great book and one lots of people, especially those of us who are not from military families--and in this day and age that's the majority of us, can learn a lot from.
Other than the daughters, it was a great book and one lots of people, especially those of us who are not from military families--and in this day and age that's the majority of us, can learn a lot from.
Michelle
agreed! More than once, I thought she needed some discipline. Spoiled brat!
Gill
What a relief! Ive just finshed Home Front, with very mixed feelings and deep irritation with the Betsy character but also Jolene, for believing it was her fault her daughter was acting up. I'm not a mum so felt slightly guilty at disliking Betsy so much and knowing if she was my daughter we'd be having serious words, so am relieved to see it's not just me!
Jacque
I want to give up on this audiobook because Betsy really irritates me. I usually feel happy reading books and I can’t tell if it’s the kids or the voices that are annoying me so bad.
Lorna
I just googled Home Front Betsy and found this thread. I can not imagine any 12 year old being this awful. And the parents didn't correct it. Made me so frustrated. And 5 year old LuLu acted Luke a 2 year old. The audio of them is awful.
Massi
I’m so glad I wasn’t the only one. It was funny and relieving to see a thread already created on this. I don’t know if the audiobook made it that much worse but honestly her children were so annoying I almost couldn’t focus enough to care about everything else they were going through. I love this author and her books though. I just want Betsy to be slapped one time. Then it might all be worth it ;)
Carolyn
I agree! Betsy's selfish attitude really took away from the story for me and I could see Jolene creating another monster in Lulu. It was hard for me to be sympathetic to the family.
Rosemary
I felt she was a very spoilt child and hoped that her father would take her in hand.
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Aug 09, 2022 01:12PM · flag
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