Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
I enjoyed the first half of this book much more than the second half. I also wasn't the biggest fan of the ending, it just fell flat for me.
I heard something very disturbing after I’d already started listening to Leave Me on audiobook. I’d heard that Oprah’s book club had selected this book to discuss. Oh no! I actively avoid Oprah’s picks, as the unnecessary cruelty to the protagonists seems to be a requirement. I wasn’t surprised by this announcement, though, as I already knew I was clearly in “chick lit” territory. I was drawn to the premise though, given my role as working mom, primary breadwinner, and disappointment to many on a daily basis.
How would I feel about a working mom who decided to chuck it all and disappear after her family is thoroughly unsupportive in the wake of her heart attack and bypass surgery at age 44? Would I applaud her brave choice to take control of her own life? Would I condemn her choice to walk away from her children? There was no chance of sympathy for an insensitive boob of a husband who wanted everything to be “normal” (for him) the day she is discharged from the hospital. I had mixed emotions about Maribeth. Which is off for me, as I usually form a pretty strong opinion about characters who make controversial choices.
Warning, this paragraph is a little spoilery, but I can’t talk about my feelings about Maribeth without talking about her choices. I actually liked Maribeth, and didn’t disagree with her choice to leave. But I thought she was rather too short-sighted with many of her decisions, giving her less options for the “rest of her life”. So, from that aspect, I didn’t have a ton of respect for Maribeth’s choice to leave as she had never given herself the option of making it work in the long run. In my opinion, whether consciously or not, she was always planning to return to her husband and kids as she had never given herself an alternative. So in that way, it seemed more like an immature tantrum (which was successful, apparently) rather than a conscious choice to return on her own terms.
I liked the other characters from her life in Pittsburgh more than anything we encountered in New York. The neighbors, the doctor, the lady from the birth parents’ website - I liked all of them better than anyone we’d encountered in New York. I’m actually sad we didn’t get to find out anything more about them. I don’t actually care what happens in New York. Her relationship with her mother also seemed like a complete missed opportunity. Why is her mom such a pain? Who knows, and at this point, or even cares?
This book was thought provoking, but ultimately unsatisfying, as the ending seemed contrived and slapped together. It was like the author reached a page limit and then just pulled the plug on any number of potential budding storylines just to force this ending. I haven’t read anything else by this author before, and I’m not sure if I’m going to seek any out. Truly, mixed feelings on this one.
How would I feel about a working mom who decided to chuck it all and disappear after her family is thoroughly unsupportive in the wake of her heart attack and bypass surgery at age 44? Would I applaud her brave choice to take control of her own life? Would I condemn her choice to walk away from her children? There was no chance of sympathy for an insensitive boob of a husband who wanted everything to be “normal” (for him) the day she is discharged from the hospital. I had mixed emotions about Maribeth. Which is off for me, as I usually form a pretty strong opinion about characters who make controversial choices.
Warning, this paragraph is a little spoilery, but I can’t talk about my feelings about Maribeth without talking about her choices. I actually liked Maribeth, and didn’t disagree with her choice to leave. But I thought she was rather too short-sighted with many of her decisions, giving her less options for the “rest of her life”. So, from that aspect, I didn’t have a ton of respect for Maribeth’s choice to leave as she had never given herself the option of making it work in the long run. In my opinion, whether consciously or not, she was always planning to return to her husband and kids as she had never given herself an alternative. So in that way, it seemed more like an immature tantrum (which was successful, apparently) rather than a conscious choice to return on her own terms.
I liked the other characters from her life in Pittsburgh more than anything we encountered in New York. The neighbors, the doctor, the lady from the birth parents’ website - I liked all of them better than anyone we’d encountered in New York. I’m actually sad we didn’t get to find out anything more about them. I don’t actually care what happens in New York. Her relationship with her mother also seemed like a complete missed opportunity. Why is her mom such a pain? Who knows, and at this point, or even cares?
This book was thought provoking, but ultimately unsatisfying, as the ending seemed contrived and slapped together. It was like the author reached a page limit and then just pulled the plug on any number of potential budding storylines just to force this ending. I haven’t read anything else by this author before, and I’m not sure if I’m going to seek any out. Truly, mixed feelings on this one.
This book started out strong, and I immediately got into it. I can personally identify with the main character’s feeling of unending stress, and the strong urge to escape your life and the people in it who should care about you, but for their own (inexplicable) reasons just don’t seem capable of showing it. Once she does run away it was nice to see her find herself and get in touch with feelings she had shoved away deep inside, and ones she had been in denial over for many years. Again, something I can really identify with. It felt real, and I had a lot of sympathy for the character.
The ending, however, was a disappointment. Maribeth (the main character) says at one point that one of her least favorite jobs as a writer/editor for a magazine was writing “puff pieces”, or articles about people who had suffered severe difficulties in their lives but had somehow pulled themselves up by their bootstraps and made something of themselves. She despised them in part because at that time in her life she just wanted to accept that life sometimes just IS shitty, objectively, and that there doesn’t need to be a positive spin on everything. And no wonder she feels this way, after what she experienced! That was an important part of her development I felt, and it signaled her ability to come to terms with all of the things that had happened to her, but still being OK with being *herself*.
In direct contradiction to this, she seems to decide after a while that life, despite its shittiness is “fine” (a thing which her husband said frequently and which annoyed her greatly in her earlier life). Her husband has been a jerk to her multiple times (which was a huge motivation for her leaving), and an explanation of “I was really scared of losing you” apparently makes his poor treatment and abandonment of her OK in her book. I don’t buy that. Maybe it could have worked if she had stood up for herself more, and expressed more of how she felt (which would have been more in line with her development as a person), and how he had hurt her, and how she wanted things to change. It seemed to me like all of the progress she made while she ran away was undone, and rendered meaningless. I would have found it more of a compelling story if she had either made something new of her life, or stood up for herself, or something. Another annoying thing was how very close to the ending people whom she thought had betrayed her ended up not having done so after all. That seemed too unrealistic to me. Her decisions in the end made it seem like an episode of TV, where everything has to go back to the way it was at the beginning so nothing really changes. Rather than a story arc it was just a circle completing itself.
The ending, however, was a disappointment. Maribeth (the main character) says at one point that one of her least favorite jobs as a writer/editor for a magazine was writing “puff pieces”, or articles about people who had suffered severe difficulties in their lives but had somehow pulled themselves up by their bootstraps and made something of themselves. She despised them in part because at that time in her life she just wanted to accept that life sometimes just IS shitty, objectively, and that there doesn’t need to be a positive spin on everything. And no wonder she feels this way, after what she experienced! That was an important part of her development I felt, and it signaled her ability to come to terms with all of the things that had happened to her, but still being OK with being *herself*.
In direct contradiction to this, she seems to decide after a while that life, despite its shittiness is “fine” (a thing which her husband said frequently and which annoyed her greatly in her earlier life). Her husband has been a jerk to her multiple times (which was a huge motivation for her leaving), and an explanation of “I was really scared of losing you” apparently makes his poor treatment and abandonment of her OK in her book. I don’t buy that. Maybe it could have worked if she had stood up for herself more, and expressed more of how she felt (which would have been more in line with her development as a person), and how he had hurt her, and how she wanted things to change. It seemed to me like all of the progress she made while she ran away was undone, and rendered meaningless. I would have found it more of a compelling story if she had either made something new of her life, or stood up for herself, or something. Another annoying thing was how very close to the ending people whom she thought had betrayed her ended up not having done so after all. That seemed too unrealistic to me. Her decisions in the end made it seem like an episode of TV, where everything has to go back to the way it was at the beginning so nothing really changes. Rather than a story arc it was just a circle completing itself.
fast-paced
Not a deep book but a quick and enjoyable read about a woman who is so overwhelmed by life, she just needs to take a step back. “You have to take care of yourself before you can take care of anyone else.”
This was fun to read, although the story line wasn’t all that great. It was super boring at times. And I felt like I couldn’t connect with Maribeth or any of the characters. It felt a little rushed, and the ending was pretty predictable. I had such high hopes :(
5 out of 5 for a quick summer read. I had been wanting to read this and the book did not disappoint.