Group Reads Discussion - The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise

[SRC Moderator, Moderator]

This is the discussion thread for the Winter 2023 Group Read The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise in the category Fiction: Road Trips. Please post your comments here. This thread is not restricted to those choosing this book for task 20.10, feel free to join in the discussion. Warning- spoilers ahead!

The requirement for task 20.10: You must participate in the book's discussion thread below with at least one post about the contents of the book or your reaction to the book after you have read the book.

[Lois]

What a fun way to start December! I very much enjoyed this book. Lots of humor, plot twists, a grumpy octogenarian + a road trip. High entertainment value. I got a particular laugh out of the homophone (see my SRC Fall task) reveal near the end of the book. Well done!

[Fly]

I loved this book! There were a few surprises (that I felt I really should've picked up on before they were revealed; the hints were there but my brain was not) and quite a few laughs. I also enjoyed the homophone :D
When I first started reading, I didn't think I could really relate to the characters, but by the end I was really invested in both women and I loved the friendship that built up between them.

[Andy]

This book shows how one generation can learn from another if they are willing to try. The elderly are not as physically capable compared to their twenty something compatriots and both sides have to contribute their share. Tanner and Louise are at once immersed in their own problems but the way they learn from each other is both . funny and serious. .I thought I was going to read just another book written for several generations younger than I but I was pleasantly surprised. The ending was perfect.

[Rebecca NJ]

I really enjoyed this book and I'm glad it is one of my final books for 2023. The characters were perfect for the story. There was lot of humor and there were plot twists right down to the very end. And as mentioned above, the homophone was the best part!

[Angela]

I really enjoyed the humor as well as the intermingling of more serious topics (i.e. domestic violence, sexual assault, and conversations surrounding gender) throughout the story. The characters were all so much fun and I loved the dynamic between Tanner and Louise. I sometimes find that books that try to be humorous as a bit cheesy, but not this book. I was surprised by most of the reveals and wish we had spent more time on Louise's backstory. 4/5 stars!

[Amy]

Amy FL

I'm in the minority, but I found the book a bit slow to get into. I liked the relationship between Tanner and Louise, but the reason for their trip and Louise's history weren't well developed. It was 2.5 stars for me.

[Laura H L]

Laurah30
I enjoyed reading this book. I loved the title - a throwback to the classic "Thelma and Louise" movie. It crossed generations and it showed the complexity of female relationships. I liked Louise, an independent 80+ year old who certainly "lived" her life. As I got to know more about Tanner I grew to like her. She went from a pouty kid to an interesting young woman who was growing into her own skin.

[Robin P]

This book was fine, but full of so many tropes: Odd couple, road trip, elderly curmudgeon with a secret past, young person who turns her life around, and the hot young guy down the street. There were a couple of twists I didn't see coming, but overall it was predictable. Nothing wrong with it, but nothing really memorable either. And there's no way a woman in her '80's with a recently fractured hip could walk 2 miles and back! (maybe Louise was just embellishing, but she obviously walked some distance, where before just moving around her house was difficult.) Maybe an odd thing to be picky about, considering the unlikeliness of the plot in general, but it bothered me.

[Andy]

Robin P wrote: "This book was fine, but full of so many tropes: Odd couple, road trip, elderly curmudgeon with a secret past, young person who turns her life around, and the hot young guy down the street. There we..."

I agree about the 80 year old. Since I recently turned 78 and have not had any hip joint problems. I can walk 4 miles without assistance, but don't ask me how long it would take me and I work out on a treadmill for an hour every day and my muscles let me know if I skip a day.

[KmarieD, Moderator]

I agree with most of what Amy and Robin said. I thought the book was OK, but nothing that I would go out and tell others to read. I enjoyed the twist that came with the pun and the reveal at the end. To me, the most annoying parts of the book were the short interludes with her children and their reactions to her disappearance.

[Marie (UK)]

I am not reading this for group read but consiering it for 50.1
If you have read it is the book about the same decade in time that it is written

[Julia]

This was on a "Did you miss these?" display at the library and I recognized it as one of the group reads. Otherwise I probably wouldn't have picked it up.

It was a quick read, and I appreciated the homage to "Thelma and Louise" but I wasn't inspired to read other books by this author.
I thought the homophone was silly, especially with the reveal at the end. It was hard to accept that the FBI would have accepted the homophone excuse.

Wondering if I missed something: who was Irene (the priest's mother) and what did Patty do to help her?

[Robin P]

Marie (UK) wrote: "I am not reading this for group read but consiering it for 50.1
If you have read it is the book about the same decade in time that it is written"

It's new and it takes place in the present, there are just some brief flashbacks to the past and some talking about the past. I see Contemporary is the 3rd listed MPG so I think It should be good, but you should get the task creator's approval to be sure.

[C]

It's a heist story! Or is it a heist story? Road trip story, kinda. This fun story brings confusion to everyday and not-so-everyday occurrences, and ties together in a grand, lesson-learning, air-clearing, not-sure-you-saw-that-coming conclusion.

[Alex]

What a fun story! I enjoyed the relationship that developed between Louise and Tanner, and there were a couple of twists that were fun developments. the homophone was fun - I didn't see that coming, but enjoyed the extra reveal at the end. It was a break from what I've been reading lately, which was very welcomed!

[Jen K]

Also had a lot of fun with this one. I listened to it while on my own long drive. There were a few bits that definitely didn't make sense or just not realistic but I enjoyed the road trip and slowly understanding both Tanner and Louise and watching their friendship unfold. Definitely a good one for a road trip.

The homophone thing was like a bad dad joke and part of the not realistic part to me but clever try.

[Chris]

There are so many young/old road trip books out there, they should be considered a genre. I liked this one better than some of the others I've tried (looking at you, Sara Goodman Confino, She's Up to No Good). Maybe I just don't like overly contrived plots. Tanner has lost both her college soccer scholarship and her direction in life after a severe injury. She agreed to take on the task of living with the elderly Louise as her children become more worried about her ability to live alone. Tanner comes across as this mad, rude, girl-woman, which totally does not jibe with what we find about her past as a great student. Louise is a trip, the elderly woman with secrets, a locked shed, and a gun in her nightstand. Then, Tanner sees a story on the local news about new leads in a decades-old jewel heist, and the suspect looks suspiciously like Louise. Next thing Tanner knows, Louise has forced her up in the middle of the night to go on the lam - and thus begins our road trip. I liked the little descriptions of their interactions along the way, and I have to say the unveiling of what really happened all those years ago was not what I was expecting. Nicely narrated too.

[Robin P]

For an old/young trip I prefer Miss Benson's Beetle. The narration of that book added a lot to the characters.

[Cat]

As far as the recent flurry of books on the theme "old folks are people with lives, sexuality and other stuff too!" this one was one of the better, though still suffers from tropes and slightly 2D characters.
entertaining enough, but I wouldn't be hunting down others by the author

[KSMary]

I liked this one. Not one that I would normally have picked up but I found it entertaining and a perfect light read. I didn't see the homophone coming and felt like I had fallen for the dad joke but I didn't mind that twist overall.

In response to the comment above, one might assume that the priest's mother was one of the women that George and Patty helped as no other explanation was given.

[Cat]

I didn't get why she put in the homophone twist. The FBI agent was only looking for Louise/Patty on the basis that she was connected to the gangster and thus might have info, nothing to do with suspecting her. That just annoyed me.

[Katy]

I really enjoyed this! I read this as an audiobook and it was a lot of fun. I ended up finding both main characters pretty lovable despite not initially thinking either had much of a personality!

I agree the homophone twist was not needed! Though I enjoyed the added dimension it brought to Louise's backstory.

[JennRenee, Moderator]

I really enjoyed this book. I found it endearing and funny. I loved the characters and the depth of characters.

I really enjoyed the backstory, the mystery, and how it all came together.