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deanna_rigney's review against another edition
2.0
This seemed contrived in many ways. I didn't really like any of the characters very much, so it was hard to stay very interested.
coralrose's review against another edition
2.0
This book follows a girl who moves from the big city to the prairie, Prairie City to be exact. Lucinda's boss at the television studio agrees to let her move there to do a series of reports on life outside the city after Lucinda falls in love with the little town while doing a report on meth addiction. So the first half of the book, we follow along as Lucinda traipses into country life, trying to turn her interactions with the idiosyncratic people around her into seven-minute segments for a New York morning show. Then, just as you are starting to sort of understand the dangerous line she is walking between what she wants to do versus what her boss wants her to do, she finds out that her boyfriend (whom we don't understand why she's dating, since he doesn't shower, has three kids with three different women and whose main characteristic appears to be an easy-going laziness) is a meth addict.
Show stopper. I know. Suddenly my light-hearted read turns dark and depressing. I finished the book, but I'm not sure I recommend it at all. It was supposed to be about how much Lucinda was in love with the farm she and Mason lived on and how conflicted that made her about her relationship with him, but it really was just about how to shut your eyes to someone's addiction and how to justify the fact that secretly you like him better when he's scrubbing the house down with all his drug-induced energy. I had hoped for much better.
Show stopper. I know. Suddenly my light-hearted read turns dark and depressing. I finished the book, but I'm not sure I recommend it at all. It was supposed to be about how much Lucinda was in love with the farm she and Mason lived on and how conflicted that made her about her relationship with him, but it really was just about how to shut your eyes to someone's addiction and how to justify the fact that secretly you like him better when he's scrubbing the house down with all his drug-induced energy. I had hoped for much better.
justtenille's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.0
kristennd's review against another edition
3.0
I went back and forth a lot on 3 stars vs 4. It was like Kavalier & Clay in that I had to keep forcing myself to pick it back up, but then I would always enjoy it more than expected when I did. The main character screwed up a lot and in ways you could see coming, but they were also very realistic ways that hit extremely close to home. The general setting was so appealing for me too, since I also recently moved from a big city to the prairie. And I loved Daum's early non-fiction, although lately it's been more generic. The supporting cast was too broadly-drawn -- everyone was just so quirky. Plenty of genuine laugh-out-loud moments, however. Usually involving her boss. I tend to skim past personal growth moments, which others love, but she kept them moderate so that was fine.
jocpanic's review against another edition
4.0
Sad to learn it's out of print since I enjoyed it so much. Check your local library! :)
jannie_mtl's review against another edition
3.0
This was a quick, fun read. New York girl moves to midwestern city and struggles with, well, everything. There were times when I was frustrated with this bubblehead, but it made me think about why I choose to live in a city and what it might be like to have a rural and more (physically and psychologically) spacious life. Not a very attractive (although possibly valid) view of the TV business and the shallowness of many of our lives and in particular, the media we elect to consume. I'd read something else by Daum.
annacharlottes's review against another edition
2.0
Great if you like books about self-absorbed snotballs who are supposed to learn a lesson (perhaps the author even thinks they have) but who, in the end, are clearly just as despicable and navel-gazing as ever.
an_enthusiastic_reader's review against another edition
3.0
Funny and unexpected, but too light for four stars.
ginsua1's review against another edition
2.0
I was so disappointed by this book. I *loved* her book of essays, My Misspent Youth. It's so funny and smart, I actually laughed out loud at the bookstore. Quality of Life, however, seems to rely heavily on stereotypes, and though it somewhat redeems itself at the end, I'd recommend her essays instead.
psitssarahhhh's review against another edition
1.0
I bought this book used, for $1.00. I wish I hadn't. I literally can't say anything good about this book. I would have finished it, but there's my pride. I think my main problem, is that I could not find a single redeemable quality in the main character.
I understand she wasn't meant for us to "like," or maybe even relate to. But at the end of the day, I found her so incredibly annoying, stuck up, and just plain horrible that it actually took away from the story. I could not find a single redeeming quality to cling to, to enjoy her narrative.
It's a great premise, but poorly executed.
I understand she wasn't meant for us to "like," or maybe even relate to. But at the end of the day, I found her so incredibly annoying, stuck up, and just plain horrible that it actually took away from the story. I could not find a single redeeming quality to cling to, to enjoy her narrative.
It's a great premise, but poorly executed.