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gabrielledurrett's review against another edition
Didn’t like the style, and the incest stuff was weird.
coffeedragon's review against another edition
2.0
**spoiler alert** It was an interesting book, however, I didn't feel any type of pull from it until nearly the end. I did find the actions of the narrator foreign and I'm not sure if that's because I was never adopted or if because her reaction was just different from what I had read before in other places. I can understand the interest in her real parents (biological) but I felt slightly put off by the way she acted with her parents (the ones that raised her).
Other things that left me on the meh side were her biological parents and just how they were. It was sad, the way her real mother wanted the narrator to be like the mom, the way she just couldn't move on, and the way she was treated by both her daughter and the man she couldn't forget. Also, the empty promises from her father about recognition, the somehow hope in remembering the times he said something and then didn't really mean it. Etc. However, I did enjoy reading about them. I'd even say their story seemed more appealing to me.
The part where she begins to really dig up information about her past seems rather out of place and at one point I wondered, "what's the point?" She relly went back and I found her persistence very admirable. I actually didn't know that people could do that. Makes me wonder about myself. At this point, I feel that the section could have been cut a bit short, however, it also adds a bit about how the narrator thinks and what she considers important.
Overall, it was an interesting read and a quick one too. Reminds me that all people are just different.
Other things that left me on the meh side were her biological parents and just how they were. It was sad, the way her real mother wanted the narrator to be like the mom, the way she just couldn't move on, and the way she was treated by both her daughter and the man she couldn't forget. Also, the empty promises from her father about recognition, the somehow hope in remembering the times he said something and then didn't really mean it. Etc. However, I did enjoy reading about them. I'd even say their story seemed more appealing to me.
The part where she begins to really dig up information about her past seems rather out of place and at one point I wondered, "what's the point?" She relly went back and I found her persistence very admirable. I actually didn't know that people could do that. Makes me wonder about myself. At this point, I feel that the section could have been cut a bit short, however, it also adds a bit about how the narrator thinks and what she considers important.
Overall, it was an interesting read and a quick one too. Reminds me that all people are just different.
meghan111's review against another edition
2.0
I enjoyed the first part of this memoir, but the latter half felt fragmented and incomplete. Despite the apparently personal nature of the subject, Homes doesn't reveal much of anything about who she is, even as she creates a compelling picture of the addictions of genealogy and the tug of wanting to know the stories of your ancestors.
samtag47's review against another edition
3.0
Enjoyed the beginning, very thoughtful. Got bogged down in the middle when she details (and details, and details) going through numerous databases for genealogy. The end was better.
kimmyannie's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this book alot. Another autobiography of a person from a dysfunctional family.
margotreadsbooks's review against another edition
3.0
I found the writing to be self-indulgent and over the top. Not bad, if you're into that sort of thing. I lost interest and made myself finish it. Perhaps it's a topic that hits too close to home, but I'm not a fan.
bookishblond's review against another edition
2.0
I love A.M. Homes' novels and short stories... but this memoir is wildly different. It's almost like a completely different person wrote it. The whole thing is drenched in self-pity and I found her obsession with genealogy to be more than a bit weird.
garrison1989's review against another edition
1.0
This book was great in the beginning, but then towards the end she was dragging it out a lot about her family history and it got really boring
suebarsby's review against another edition
4.0
I rather enjoyed this. I know some people thought she's whiny. I think it was a realistic exposure of what adoption is like, about how your mythical real parents are just people with problems and foibles too. I liked how she came to find out more about her adopted family, and to feel closer to them in ways she hadn't considered before.
1aramurphy's review against another edition
2.0
As pretty much anyone else who has reviewed this book has said, the first half is AMAZING and totally gripping, and the second half just cannot measure up to that promising start. Still so well-written overall, but I wish she could have simply expanded on the interactions with her birth parents and her feelings about them, and integrated the second part more elegantly, somehow... Just felt so uneven to me.