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seaswift14's review against another edition
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
alhedrick's review
challenging
dark
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
mmbay's review
4.5
Quirky plot and characters, loved it. Thought the writing, especially the parts that touched on grief, was excellent.
notesonbookmarks's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I loved this. It's so weird and I loved it.
kleonard's review against another edition
2.0
This book is positioned in the *Where'd You Go, Bernadette?* genre. Focusing on three women who are affected when a town's pencil factory explodes, this is what many reviewers would call quirky. It definitely has its quirks: Ruth, a photography shop owner, tries to heal the town by taking in objects that represent people's losses. Esther, who tests the tastes of the pencils at the factory, tries to find replacement things to bite while the factory is being rebuilt, but, unable to cope with life outside of the role-playing she engages in as part of her job, causes trauma instead. Frankie, the factory owner's daughter, is badly hurt in the explosion, but finds ways of communicating with those she loves most. While these women could be interpreted as brave or in the process of coming to terms with their own selves, their lives and thoughts revolve mostly around the men who they think define them, or should be part of their lives. Ruth mourns her husband, killed in a car accident, and cannot move on from his death, even as townspeople move on from their traumas. Esther's uncontrollable desire to bite and her self-inflicted neediness for a male partner ends in gore; Frankie romanticizes her immature boyfriend to the point that she decides that sleeping with him is her most important priority as she recovers. It was painful to watch them accept these actions and be unable to cope in better ways. The writing is colorful and imaginative, but the overarching issues are a problem for me. Finally, the end of the book felt rushed and truncated. There was no sense of completeness in finishing it, no reward for the reader.
gicb38's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars
TW: Grief, death of a spouse, hospitalization, major community trauma, alcoholism, allusion to suicide, eating disorder and life threatening injuring
Following the lives of three women, Esther, Ruth and Frankie as all of their lives are changed by an accidental explosion in the local pencil factory. Frankie is the daughter of the owner, and get terribly injured in the explosion, leaving her hospitalized and without a voice. Esther is the companies quality tester for mouthfeel, compulsively feeding into her teeth’s constant need for ‘work’, and Ruth the owner of a photography shop, with a camera obscura, copping with the grief of losing her husband.
I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it if you like weird and quiet books. It is definitely the kind of book that swallows you into its atmosphere and you can get lost in it for hours. The sort of uncanny feel it creates in the stories of Ruth and Esther, was to me the main joy of the narrative. That feeling that you are at the edge of reality.
However, this was only a 3.5 star for me because of two factors. First, I felt like both of Esther’s and Ruth’s stories could have been a whole novel on it self, and the fact that Frankie story was mixed between the two only threw me off the narrative. Frankie was a great character but her age difference compared to the other women, and also the fact that she lacked the mysterious uncanny that surrounded the other main characters just made it feel like her story did not belong along side the others.
Second, I felt like the second half fell flat. SPOILERS AHEAD. Once Esther’s story stopped being about her, and her compulsive bitting, and about her obsession with her neighbor I lost a lot of interest in her. Same thing with Ruth, who to me held the best written chapters. Her story line dealing with memory and grief became overwhelmed with the whole ‘past fixing/memory fixing’ enterprise, and I think we lose a lot of the narrative arc of her dealing with grief, because she is so focused on other people’s grief.
I would still highly recommend this book, it is well written with some profoundly moving passages, if you are interested I would advise you to check it out.
TW: Grief, death of a spouse, hospitalization, major community trauma, alcoholism, allusion to suicide, eating disorder and life threatening injuring
Following the lives of three women, Esther, Ruth and Frankie as all of their lives are changed by an accidental explosion in the local pencil factory. Frankie is the daughter of the owner, and get terribly injured in the explosion, leaving her hospitalized and without a voice. Esther is the companies quality tester for mouthfeel, compulsively feeding into her teeth’s constant need for ‘work’, and Ruth the owner of a photography shop, with a camera obscura, copping with the grief of losing her husband.
I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it if you like weird and quiet books. It is definitely the kind of book that swallows you into its atmosphere and you can get lost in it for hours. The sort of uncanny feel it creates in the stories of Ruth and Esther, was to me the main joy of the narrative. That feeling that you are at the edge of reality.
However, this was only a 3.5 star for me because of two factors. First, I felt like both of Esther’s and Ruth’s stories could have been a whole novel on it self, and the fact that Frankie story was mixed between the two only threw me off the narrative. Frankie was a great character but her age difference compared to the other women, and also the fact that she lacked the mysterious uncanny that surrounded the other main characters just made it feel like her story did not belong along side the others.
Second, I felt like the second half fell flat. SPOILERS AHEAD. Once Esther’s story stopped being about her, and her compulsive bitting, and about her obsession with her neighbor I lost a lot of interest in her. Same thing with Ruth, who to me held the best written chapters. Her story line dealing with memory and grief became overwhelmed with the whole ‘past fixing/memory fixing’ enterprise, and I think we lose a lot of the narrative arc of her dealing with grief, because she is so focused on other people’s grief.
I would still highly recommend this book, it is well written with some profoundly moving passages, if you are interested I would advise you to check it out.
suburbrat's review against another edition
5.0
i've read 120 books this year and i can safely say that THIS book is my favorite book so far. i really can't put into words how much i loved this book, i'll have to sit on and it and come back later. this book is FUNNY. i mean, laugh out loud funny. but also depressing and real. gahhh just ... read it.
(also, this was my first goodreads giveaway win!!)
(also, this was my first goodreads giveaway win!!)
starness's review against another edition
4.0
There’s no denying it, this book is downright wacky but once you accept that this book is an absolute delight. Quirkier than quirky characters with a town centred around a pencil factory. There’s Esther the pencil factory’s official mouth feel tester with severe anxiety and a fetish that extends to biting a variety of inanimate objects to help calm her down. Then a tragic fire that destroys said factory and you get a recipe for a crazy, weird and wonderful story full of wit and oddities, there are so many absurd moments that it would be hard to forget this story in a hurry. Maybe this will be a little too weird for some tastes but I really enjoyed the absurdity of the characters and situations. If you like your books with a witty bite and a different point of view you will love this!