Two Books You Missed and One You Should #BookReview #SundayVibes

I just finished up an audiobook that I still can’t believe I stuck with. And now, preparing for a review I see it has an astounding #12 on Amazon Charts. Obviously, I’m the wrong generation for this one, but it got me thinking of two books I’ve read and listened to this year that still reverberate that didn’t make the same distinction. Why?*

First, back in February, I read The Great Gimmelmans by Lee Matthew Goldberg.

It left me speechless. The fast-paced narrative follows the thoughts of middle child Aaron Gimmelman. Their family has had catastrophic reversals of fortune with the loss of his father’s job. Aaron manages to become the voice of reason for the family despite his parents going off the deep end. I kept rooting for a miracle and waiting for the author to pull a rabbit out of the hat. It’s a strongly mixed emotional message, dark, suspenseful, and full of twists, surprises.

Then there is Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane. Seriously, this is a shocker. It’s enraging, gripping, and unfortunately so real it breaks your heart. In 70s Boston, a single mother is struggling. She’s a scrapper, strong, but there comes a time she’ll break. The novel is dark, extremely atmospheric of the time and locality. The author nails the main character. If you missed it—don’t.

Now, I finished Funny Story.  And there is nothing funny about it. I’ll give you a taste of the Book Blurb:

Daphne is “Stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children’s librarian (that barely pays the bills), and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak.

“Scruffy and chaotic…Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned up Daphne.”

My Thoughts

Yes, of course, the two are thrown together as roommates and I’ll bet you can guess what’s going to happen immediately. They decide they must provide a “fake” new love relationship to mess with their ex-es.

Daphne is damaged, of course, having lived a horrible childhood. Poor baby. She really loves her mother. She doesn’t her absentee father. She has issues. So many issues.

Miles is damaged, having lived a horrible childhood. He hates his mother. He has issues. So many issues.

When Daphne and Miles get together for other than “fake”, they usually end with an argument, most times initiated by Miles. And then begins the introspection. Boy, do we get the introspection! (Well…they argue a lot.) Or maybe it just seemed half the book was introspection by one or the other but I’d stopped caring a long time ago when I realized Daphne, smart as she is, was bound and determined to make the same mistakes over and over and …

They weren’t relatable (at least for me) and Miles didn’t come close to being a romantic interest, declaring more than once he still loved Petra. Duh. She still didn’t get it?

Rosepoint Rating: Two point Five Stars

Book Details

Genre: Romantic Comedy, Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Author: Emily Henry
Narrator: Julia Whelan
ASIN: B0CCPPQ38D
Publication Date: April 23, 2024
Source: Library
Title Links: Funny Story [Amazon]
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

 

About the Author: Emily Henry is the #1 New York Times and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of Happy Place, Book Lovers, People We Meet on Vacation, and Beach Read. She studied creative writing at Hope College, and now spends most of her time in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the part of Kentucky just beneath it. Find her on Instagram @EmilyHenryWrites.

If you are a big Henry fan, you may enjoy it as the others—she is new to me. Or, perhaps you just love romance books with familiar graphic descriptions.

I received a copy of this audiobook from my local library that in no way influenced my reviews. These opinions are my own.

©2024 V Williams

 

*Now I see that Small Mercies was selected by Amazon as Best Books of 2023