Helpful Score: 8
Loved it. Slow start, but by the time I got to the middle I could not put it down. About infertility and the toll it takes on a couple as well as infidelity. I really felt bad for the 10 year old boy who's parents were never in the same home with him and the feeling of not being wanted by his dad. In the end the main character feels great empathy for everyone, including he husbands mistress.
This arthor has a very good writing style and I loved the way she took it back and forth between the characters points of view.
I debated on saving this book in my keeper shelf but I believe that I should put it out there to be shared with other PBS readers.
This arthor has a very good writing style and I loved the way she took it back and forth between the characters points of view.
I debated on saving this book in my keeper shelf but I believe that I should put it out there to be shared with other PBS readers.
Helpful Score: 7
Kept me engrossed, even though the plot twists at times were a bit unbelievable. Interesting cast of characters; sympathies alternated back and forth among them all. Covers all the bases: infertility, extra-martial affair, stages of a marriage, boy trying desperately to make his world 'right'...
Helpful Score: 6
Loved this book. It was a quick read since it was one of those books that you just don't want to put down. It's funny and sad all at the same time and all in all a really good read.
Helpful Score: 6
Great book! I enjoyed how infidelity was viewed from all perspectives and there was no one guilty person, just the realism of life. The characters came alive and were all relatable.
Helpful Score: 5
this is a really good book.it will make you laugh and cry and it is realistic in that these things have probably happened to a few of us.
Helpful Score: 4
This was a really great story and I really felt for all the characters. I liked how the story switched points of view. I was a little disappointed in the ending because it never resolved which couples would be together, but I guess tht's life sometimes.
Helpful Score: 4
Excellent store, moving story line, well developed charcters. This story is about love, marriage, loss, cheating, finding one's own self, and learning to live. Truly an amazing read!
Helpful Score: 4
Well-written story about a couple struggling with both infertility and infidelity.
Helpful Score: 4
Overall, a good story about a marriage that is falling apart and the paths each half of the couple choose to take. I wish the ending gave me more closure though.
Helpful Score: 3
I really enjoyed listening to this story, though I found it very sad. I wanted to continue listening to it after I had arrived home each night, but I hate to hear about marriages failing and especially adultery. I liked that you get to see each person's perspective, especially the "other woman's". The reader had a great voice.
Helpful Score: 2
A sequel could definitely be written for this book. The author writes the story from both the husband's perspective and the wife's. It was well written and hard to put down.
Helpful Score: 2
I enjoyed this book and found the characters interesting. You get to see the story of a marriage falling apart from a number of different points of views. The author does a good job of putting you on the roller coaster of emotions that the characters are going through.
If you enjoyed the author's other novel, "Good Grief", I think you will like this too.
If you enjoyed the author's other novel, "Good Grief", I think you will like this too.
Helpful Score: 2
Enjoyable read. Follow a couples life through their ups and down with marriage and infertility.
Helpful Score: 2
I really liked this book. It held my interest, I liked the characters and the ending wasn't predictable.
Helpful Score: 1
This book bothered me on how it progressed but I could not put it down. It stayed with me a long time after I finished it and I would not hesitate to read it again. Overall, very well written. Loooking forward to future publishings from this author.
Helpful Score: 1
As a writer for the Washington Post so aptly said in her review of the book, "There are no good guys or bad guys in this tale of modern love - just real characters with real flaws, who are entirely human and utterly sympathetic."
Good, well-written, believable story that keeps you wanting to know what happens to the characters next!
Good, well-written, believable story that keeps you wanting to know what happens to the characters next!
Helpful Score: 1
This book was good. It seemed somewhat predicitable but overall a good summer read.
Helpful Score: 1
I really enjoyed this book!!! A must read!!
Helpful Score: 1
Unfortunately, reading this book was a waste of my time. The story line was boring and way to wordy. It just didn't do anything for me.
Helpful Score: 1
The character development in this novel is really interesting. The primary focus is on an unhappy marriage and all its causes and effects. Winston gives us different perspectives throughout the novel, allowing readers to see the issues from all angles and to appreciate all the relationships at stake.
Helpful Score: 1
This book was just "okay" for me. I was expecting more, especially at the ending. It didn't seem like it really "ended" for me. I would have liked to seen more of the story, but overall it was a decent book.
Helpful Score: 1
Not nearly as good as Good Grief, the ending to me was non existent. It just left too many unanswered questions. I cared for the characters and enjoyed the story, but just felt left down at the end.
Helpful Score: 1
This is not a continuation of Sophie's story in Winston's first novel "Good Grief".
I guess I just assumed it would be because of the way the first book ended. Like there could be and possibly was more future for Sophie. Once I got over that fact I was able to settle into the easy read of Winston's second novel, "Happiness Sold Separately".
This book covers a wide range of emotions as Elinor (and Ted) both experience the heartbreak and frustration of not being able to carry a baby full term. They both handle the loss in their own way: Elinor pulls away into herself and Ted finds Gina who gives him the affection that he is needing.
Winston has created very well-rounded characters again. Her writing is done so simple, yet extensive enough that you can feel the characters' emotions and their lives become real to the reader. The end of the book is somewhat sudden, but not in the "left hanging" kind of way. In a way, I'm almost relieved. I enjoyed the book but the story brings up hard-to-deal-with-feelings and I had to take a break in the middle. (I guess I just get really involved in good writing.)
Anyways, in summary, I think parts of the book are more graphic than Winston's first book. I liked the first book better in that way. I enjoy being able to "feel" the story but I don't want so much detail that makes me feel like I'm reading a cheap dime novel. Also, I still miss Sophie. :) (Guess that goes back to what I was saying about really getting involved.)
(For more book reviews by me, go to www.ladyreadnblog.blogspot.com)
I guess I just assumed it would be because of the way the first book ended. Like there could be and possibly was more future for Sophie. Once I got over that fact I was able to settle into the easy read of Winston's second novel, "Happiness Sold Separately".
This book covers a wide range of emotions as Elinor (and Ted) both experience the heartbreak and frustration of not being able to carry a baby full term. They both handle the loss in their own way: Elinor pulls away into herself and Ted finds Gina who gives him the affection that he is needing.
Winston has created very well-rounded characters again. Her writing is done so simple, yet extensive enough that you can feel the characters' emotions and their lives become real to the reader. The end of the book is somewhat sudden, but not in the "left hanging" kind of way. In a way, I'm almost relieved. I enjoyed the book but the story brings up hard-to-deal-with-feelings and I had to take a break in the middle. (I guess I just get really involved in good writing.)
Anyways, in summary, I think parts of the book are more graphic than Winston's first book. I liked the first book better in that way. I enjoy being able to "feel" the story but I don't want so much detail that makes me feel like I'm reading a cheap dime novel. Also, I still miss Sophie. :) (Guess that goes back to what I was saying about really getting involved.)
(For more book reviews by me, go to www.ladyreadnblog.blogspot.com)
Helpful Score: 1
The bestselling author of "Good Grief" delivers her eagerly awaited new novel, a darkly funny and messy love story about what happens when people meet the wrong person at the wrong time and have to make it all right.
Helpful Score: 1
My first foray into reading Winston, and I have already ordered one more from the club. This was a wonderful book that did not follow the usual conclusions about people and their actions. I found myself wanting to dislike some of them but unable to because Winston knows that people are seldom all good or bad. Winston shows us various sides of each of the main characters in the story and their personal motivations, and that was refreshing. She allows us to draw our own conclusions, and she made me think much more deeply about possibilities.
It took me a while to really get interested in the characters of this novel because I'm used to reading and listening to works by Anita Shreve and other writers who are masters at that. But Lolly Winston weaves a good story and has a fun sense of humor. The infertility part of the story line takes some unexpected twists and turns and at the end of it all, I think this will be one of those works I'll remember.
Lolly Winston is one of the best writers I've read in a while. I flew through both her books. Can't wait to see what else she comes out with.
Just okay. It was only "just okay". Wish there was more to say after investing my time with the book.
This book was well-written and the characters were interesting. However, there was so little happiness in this story and the ending was so unsatisfying that I just couldn't recommend it to anyone.
Good story. Read it in one day.
I read another book by this author "Good Grief" and thought that one was MUCH better. THis book just dragged on and on and on and on! The couple in this book faces many problems in their marriage and the book describes how each one deals with it.
great book wish there was more of an ending keeps you in suspense though
Disappointing. Not as good as the first one.
Quick and very enjoyable read.
A bit predictable but still an enjoyable read.
It took me three tries to read this book in its entirety. The book is not a bad book; nope, it's actually written well and told from multiple characters' viewpoints. The book deals with infertility and infidelity which just touched a nerve with me and made it difficult to continue reading. I was ultimately able to finish it. I also agree that the book could use a good sequel. You will get involved with the characters and start to care about them and what happens to them on this bumpy, funny, and sad road of life.
Over all a good read, perdictable and a little frustrating. Good for a plane or car ride.
Very enlightening view of this illness and therapy methods used to manage this.
Really liked this one! Lolly Winston has such a great sense of humor, I cracked up throughout the entire book! Great read!
This book was well written from both perspectives but had a bad ending. Nothing was told at the end it was very abrupt ending as far as i was concerned. The ending ruined the book for me.
This a great book and is not at all expected. This book had moments where I laughed and cried with the character! A very well written story.
Great story. Very entertaining. It's humor mixed with sadness and a few hundred other emotions.
great! I really enjoy Lolly Winston!
I really enjoyed this book. At first, I thought it was going to be so so but, as I read more it held my interest. I wouldn't want to find myself in that kind of a situation though. Who would?
I felt this book and its characters were disjointed and underdeveloped. Good for reading in waiting rooms, didn't require much thought.
I really did not like this book. I think its because she is a new author to me..
loved it
I enjoyed this while driving
