Sarai

Wanted to like it.

Revisado: 09-14-21

Was looking for something low stakes to listen to while up late with newborn. It is indeed low stakes and does very much give Anita Loos whom I love but is from another time. I think trying to do something similar now comes off as boring and disingenuous and doesn’t really suit modern sensibilities? I could be wrong about that. I don’t know. Didn’t hate it. But I could see how someone could.

I won’t say the main character is unsympathetic as I think most characters deserve some level of sympathy but there is something underdeveloped about her that annoyed me.

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esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

Well done

Revisado: 06-20-21

I do enjoy true crime but I’m not a fan when it feels salacious... or as if the author has an agenda... or if the victims are largely ignored. I think this book does a good job of thinking about who the perpetrator is while also considering the victims as humans. The grief of the survivors and their families is deeply and beautifully wrought. There are gruesome details but they don’t feel gratuitous or exaggerated for shock factor.

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Sad but not oppressive

Revisado: 05-01-21

It took me a couple of months to get through this book because there is so much sadness and trauma. But I cared very much for (most of) the characters, so I continued to return. It only gets sadder and sadder with more and more frequency as you get towards the end. It’s not a light read. There is a lot of rhythm to the prose, though delivered by an unconvincing performance. The accent sounds like Appalachia to me? Definitely southern which was a little distracting. But not appallingly so. I recommend.

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Found the strange history distracting

Revisado: 01-31-21

The story about a white man being murdered during the civil war for being “in love” with a black woman didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me seeing as white men have typically been allowed to do whatever they want in this country. So, I did some bare minimum research and found in the National Black Law Journal and found that: “White women were penalized for becoming pregnant by Black or mulatto men, whereas White men suffered no similar penalties for impregnating Black or mulatto women as long as they did not marry them.” This confirmed my disbelief. To some, this may seem like a small detail but it bothered me and struck me as revisionist. And, to be clear, I gave it one goog. The story, otherwise, is pretty standard and underperformed.

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Gets the job done

Revisado: 12-28-20

This book is whip smart and tongue-in-cheek in some places and cliche in others. Unfortunately, the most important moments are the cliche/lifetime moments. But it’s still a nice story. Ends neatly and pleasantly.

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Dynamic but feels forced

Revisado: 12-25-20

My master’s program was adjacent to an MFA program so I attended a couple of workshops. This felt like an MFA experiment/project in which the author plays with point of view, plot exposition, multiple simultaneous narrators, etc., etc. I don’t know if it is completely successful but the author gave it her all. I got frustrated with the triteness a few times but ultimately kept reading because I was successfully drawn in. And keeping a reader reading is a skill. Didn’t love the narrator for an adult novel.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Much better than the synopsis lets on

Revisado: 12-20-20

The way this book is being marketed does not feel fair to the beautiful, strange, twisted, absurd, and unfortunate story. Also, I really like the narrator.

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esto le resultó útil a 5 personas

Odd

Revisado: 12-05-20

This book reminds me very much of books like “Love Me Back” and “My Year of Rest and Relaxation” in which women do some really self-destructive stuff without really reflecting on how that behaviors impacts their future. But with a black female character. There are fleeting moments of poignancy (I say this as a black millennial woman) but also moments when the suspension of disbelief was not possible. For example, I enjoyed and understand the conversation/dynamic between the protagonist and a co-worker but found her lack of friends quite odd. Ole girl has NO friends which is kind of the only reason the plot is feasible. I’m not mad I listened to it but it’s not my favorite either. I appreciate the fact that a black woman is flawed though her complete lack of self-awareness and introspection are difficult to digest, but I also don’t love first-person narratives and have become averse to them in general.

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esto le resultó útil a 7 personas

Insufferable

Revisado: 09-05-20

I bought this book because I have always been intrigued by Melania. But, after 45 mins, I just felt badly about life and the world. The author makes this very much about herself. Her life story is honestly boring; She claims to be scrappy though she is from a monied, privileged family. She quite literally compares herself to Melania and seems to believe that Melania’s the one who has never worked a day in her life. And the author is extremely self-congratulatory about raising money/ throwing galas for issues THAT IMPACT HER FAMILY. And she admits, as a middle aged woman, that she had never voted until she voted for Trump in 2016. She tries to justify her decision not to vote in very disturbing and problematic ways. I will be returning it. I can’t stand any more.

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esto le resultó útil a 10 personas

Not my usual cup of tea

Revisado: 07-12-20

Because audible suggested it to me, I assumed it was literary fiction. It is pretty much pulp fiction, which is fine but not for me

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