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lisathepoetlibrarian's review against another edition
5.0
Gina Frangello weaves together the personal and collective stories of the characters she creates and the readers. The unique narrative structures that threads one story from the past, the starting point for all the other stories, builds suspense and emotional depth. Frangello roots the narrative real life tragedies that creates links between our own lives and those of the characters. As each character shows us their own view of the unfolding of these lives, Frangello infuses the story with insight and humanity. I read this while traveling and felt inspired to live more adventurously, more presently, and with more gratitude.
notoriousagk's review against another edition
4.0
Wow. Gina Frangello's writing packs a punch, folks. And so much of the emotional core of the novel was just brilliant. Mary's struggle to heal from a devastating loss, her attempt to escape her own mortality, and the ever-present longing for a female presence in her life really resonates. Yet another book I'll be thinking about for a long while.
This probably would have been a five star review if not for a few rather contrived coincidences and plot twists throughout. I can suspend my disbelief pretty far, but not infinitely. Still, it's a highly recommended read.
This probably would have been a five star review if not for a few rather contrived coincidences and plot twists throughout. I can suspend my disbelief pretty far, but not infinitely. Still, it's a highly recommended read.
nixieknox's review against another edition
3.0
This was SO not what I was expecting! A paperback original called "A Life in Men" with a woman on the beach on the cover? Hello, chick lit! But not so at all. I really enjoyed this - perhaps some editing on the travelogue would have been welcomed, but overall a great story. I didn't mind that Mary was so blissfully selfish and unaware of how to be a thoughtful person. That's what made the story more compelling.
Also the reveal wasn't really a reveal at all, was it? I mean was it supposed to be? I assumed that's what happened, at least in general.
The end chapter took me a bit by surprise, but ultimately wrapped it up nicely but not with a bow, which was appreciated.
Also the reveal wasn't really a reveal at all, was it? I mean was it supposed to be? I assumed that's what happened, at least in general.
The end chapter took me a bit by surprise, but ultimately wrapped it up nicely but not with a bow, which was appreciated.
graggirl's review against another edition
2.0
This story is actually about a girl who only knows depth in sex. But it has very little sex in it. It is about a spoiled American who feels that her life is traumatic and wishes to travel to expand her worldview but is incapable of selflessness or seeing beyond herself. She uses every person she comes in contact with. It is too long. And it is frustrating to see so little depth.
I wanted to like this book very much. But I didn't . I think the problem with this book was that the author did not have commitment to what story she was telling and so the book ended up being too long with too many different stories. She couldn't commit to the characters in first couple of hundred pages so they seemed to be underdeveloped and in genuine. Also she couldn't decide if this book had something to say or if it was chick lit fluff. For these reasons I struggled to read it. But about 250 pages in I did get interested.
There is some value to this book and I feel like maybe this is a story written by an author too early in a writing career. Where if she had waited she may have been able to decide what story she was writing and how much substance she wanted it to have.
My biggest complaints were with the main character. She is very selfish and unlikable. She is the definition of white privilege and upper middle class. But she is meant to be the heroine. Throughout the book she does not grow or develop depth. It is hard to root for someone so stagnant and so oblivious when it is obvious the author didn't want her to come off that way.
I am glad to be done with this book. It is a relief. This book was worth finishing but not worth recommending.
I wanted to like this book very much. But I didn't . I think the problem with this book was that the author did not have commitment to what story she was telling and so the book ended up being too long with too many different stories. She couldn't commit to the characters in first couple of hundred pages so they seemed to be underdeveloped and in genuine. Also she couldn't decide if this book had something to say or if it was chick lit fluff. For these reasons I struggled to read it. But about 250 pages in I did get interested.
There is some value to this book and I feel like maybe this is a story written by an author too early in a writing career. Where if she had waited she may have been able to decide what story she was writing and how much substance she wanted it to have.
My biggest complaints were with the main character. She is very selfish and unlikable. She is the definition of white privilege and upper middle class. But she is meant to be the heroine. Throughout the book she does not grow or develop depth. It is hard to root for someone so stagnant and so oblivious when it is obvious the author didn't want her to come off that way.
I am glad to be done with this book. It is a relief. This book was worth finishing but not worth recommending.
sonia_reppe's review against another edition
3.0
Mary, diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, lives out an "entitled hedonism" and likes to live on the edge. Frangello’s writing vividly brings to life the settings of Mary’s exotic travels, including Mexico, Amsterdam and Morocco; she smoothly streams the consciences of her complex characters in the third-person point of view which alternates between Mary and her lovers. If you like to be immersed in foreign settings, this is one to try.
k8iedid's review against another edition
I loved the premise and enjoyed Frangello's turn of phrases. But ultimately I could not stick along for the ride of Mary being terrible and DNF'd after London. Am I too old to enjoy reading about 20 year olds being 20 year olds, or have 2 years of a pandemic made me more picky about who I spend my time with? IDK.
cook_memorial_public_library's review against another edition
5.0
Recommended by Brooke, who says, "It looks like a romance, but is a heavy literary book with romantic relationships sprinkled in throughout. It is a story of a woman with a serious illness discovering who she is and her place in the world.''
Check our catalog: https://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Sa%20life%20in%20men%20frangello__Orightresult__U?lang=eng&suite=gold
Check our catalog: https://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Sa%20life%20in%20men%20frangello__Orightresult__U?lang=eng&suite=gold
samnopal's review against another edition
2.0
I have to confess to being immediately turned off by the title of the book, "A Life in Men," because it promised a woman who sought validation or life affirmation by the men in her life. But then I discovered that the main character was afflicted with Cystic Fibrosis and was pleasantly surprised and excited to see how this would effect her personality. The truth is it doesn't really, and this book reads like another tale of bored suburban kid hopping the globe and sleeping with exotic and foreign men to get a little something extra out of her life. Her CF doesn't seem all that imposing in the first 30 years of her life and then it springs up in the last 2 as some kind of writer's device to allow Mary, the main character, to become more introspective and to finally not sleep with a new and interesting male.
I didn't care for Mary after 200 pages of the same thing over and over. I didn't enjoy Leo so overtly acting as the "this is what the book is about" character when he declared that Mary was torn between her safe and boring husband (who was a pulmonary specialist and traveled just as extensively as she did, so Mary was kind of a jerk to him anyway) and the world traveled, heroin addict who had left behind countless sons and women in his wake, because it reminded her of her adopted father and her biological father blah blah blah. Thanks step brother for letting me do a little not thinking about Mary's terrible, awful life of jetting around the globe.
It's too long. I would've been happier with this book if it had ended around page 200. I felt guilty for wanting Mary to die sooner.
I didn't care for Mary after 200 pages of the same thing over and over. I didn't enjoy Leo so overtly acting as the "this is what the book is about" character when he declared that Mary was torn between her safe and boring husband (who was a pulmonary specialist and traveled just as extensively as she did, so Mary was kind of a jerk to him anyway) and the world traveled, heroin addict who had left behind countless sons and women in his wake, because it reminded her of her adopted father and her biological father blah blah blah. Thanks step brother for letting me do a little not thinking about Mary's terrible, awful life of jetting around the globe.
It's too long. I would've been happier with this book if it had ended around page 200. I felt guilty for wanting Mary to die sooner.
isabelfb's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
ayanez427's review against another edition
1.0
2/17: This was a First Reads giveaway. Original review did not save, will rewrite later.
2/20: Because I won this in a First Reads giveaway, I really tried my best to finish it. I wanted to give up around page 60, but forced myself to keep going. Unfortunately, I was unable to continue after page 140.
Mary, the protagonist, received a late in life (age 17) diagnosis of cystic fibrosis and was only expected to live for a few more years. Her best friend, Nix (Nicole), obviously should have outlived her; however, she died in a plane crash in her early 20's. By age 23, Mary is traveling and living her life as Nix had...essentially, recklessly and promiscously. She engaged in interactions with men who had no redeeming qualities, and she herself seemed to have no redeeming qualities either. Typically, I can find something about a character to hold my interest, even if I find their actions reprehensible, because I feel like I can learn something from the character. For Mary, this was not the case.
Throughout the book (or at least the part I was able to read), there were flashbacks to a trip to Greece that Mary took with Nix before her untimely death, which include backstory from Nix's point of view. Additionally, in the present day, Mary writes a journal "to" Nix describing her life has she is currently living it. From these two avenues, I also go the sense that Nix was also a character (and a friend) without any redeeming qualities.
Because of these traits (or lack thereof) of the characters, I was unable to connect with them or the story.
2/20: Because I won this in a First Reads giveaway, I really tried my best to finish it. I wanted to give up around page 60, but forced myself to keep going. Unfortunately, I was unable to continue after page 140.
Mary, the protagonist, received a late in life (age 17) diagnosis of cystic fibrosis and was only expected to live for a few more years. Her best friend, Nix (Nicole), obviously should have outlived her; however, she died in a plane crash in her early 20's. By age 23, Mary is traveling and living her life as Nix had...essentially, recklessly and promiscously. She engaged in interactions with men who had no redeeming qualities, and she herself seemed to have no redeeming qualities either. Typically, I can find something about a character to hold my interest, even if I find their actions reprehensible, because I feel like I can learn something from the character. For Mary, this was not the case.
Throughout the book (or at least the part I was able to read), there were flashbacks to a trip to Greece that Mary took with Nix before her untimely death, which include backstory from Nix's point of view. Additionally, in the present day, Mary writes a journal "to" Nix describing her life has she is currently living it. From these two avenues, I also go the sense that Nix was also a character (and a friend) without any redeeming qualities.
Because of these traits (or lack thereof) of the characters, I was unable to connect with them or the story.