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heathercottledillon's review
3.0
I'm having trouble figuring out how I feel about this book. I can totally relate to the feelings that caused Maribeth to leave, but somehow I never felt like I really understood her. I'm not really sure how to explain it, but I couldn't figure her out. I feel like the book is supposed to make me think and should stick with me, but I don't think it will. I enjoy Gayle Forman's writing enough that the story held my attention until then end; I just didn't like it as much as her other books.
lynnski723's review
4.0
When you hear “overworked and underappreciated” most people think of it as related to a job but it can definitely be said about parenthood as well. I know I felt that way at times as a mother of two, but I would have never dreamed of walking away from my kids. Husband yes (and did), but never my girls. But that’s exactly what this main character does. After suffering a heart attack at a young age, she finds herself needing to run away to heal herself – physically, mentally, and emotionally.
I really enjoyed how the author told this story. She could have easily turned this into a male bashing kind of chick-lit, but didn’t. She took the high road and made it more about the inner healing of the female character than the events that sent her running.
jenhurst's review
3.0
I liked the feminism in this book, but I think the forced love story dragged the book down a lot. Maribeth leaving and finding herself was an interesting journey and I enjoyed Gale Foreman’s writing. I think she excels at writing lost characters and people going through hard times.
chelseatm's review
4.0
It's a fantastic read, once again. Forman just knows how to write a great, complex story. It was wonderfully written and engaging. Highly recommended
kvreadsandrecs's review
4.0
I could have done without the swimming or the random kissing, but I loved the emails and the understanding. I will carry the three-legged stool with me as I venture on into my own adult life with a married best friend.
books_inthewild's review
3.0
I liked this book enough to see it through- but I just wasn’t really invested in the characters, and I didn’t feel the story was realistic….
If Maribeth was really needing a break from her life- why a mediocre rental apartment, grocery shopping and Doctor apts? Why not a hotel, room service, online shopping, a spa!? I think from the onset I was just kind of annoyed that an overworked mother, just recovering from a heart attack, would want to run away from her life to…. A rental apartment in a random city.
If Maribeth was really needing a break from her life- why a mediocre rental apartment, grocery shopping and Doctor apts? Why not a hotel, room service, online shopping, a spa!? I think from the onset I was just kind of annoyed that an overworked mother, just recovering from a heart attack, would want to run away from her life to…. A rental apartment in a random city.
novelvisits's review
3.0
Single Sentence Summary: Maribeth Klein decides to leave her own home after having a heart attack and getting little support from those closest to her.
Primary Characters: Maribeth Klein – in her early forties, Maribeth is the harried working mom of 4-year old twins. Maribeth does it all! (There are many other characters, but all are supporting to Maribeth, This is her story.)
Synopsis: Maribeth Klein first notices she’s feeling off when working late one evening. Before she is forced to pay serious attention to herself she comes home, sleeps fitfully, walks her twins ten blocks to preschool, takes the bus home, does some work, walks to meet a friend for coffee, visits her CPA, and then finally goes to see her OB/GYN for a long overdue exam. It’s that doctor who finally recognizes Maribeth’s symptoms.
Maribeth isn’t really convinced that she’s had a heart attack until she’s being wheeled in to have a stent put in her heart. That procedure goes awry and Maribeth ends up having double bypass surgery. In what seems like an incredibly short recovery period, Maribeth is sent home with lots of instructions for a new lifestyle and a lot of fear. No one in her life gets how terrified Maribeth is. They seem to expect her to just pick up where she left off, but Maribeth can’t do that. As she gets more and more frustrated with those around her, Maribeth’s fear grows until she realizes she needs to leave. And that’s what she does.
Review: Hasn’t every woman dreamed of leaving her family at one point or another? When my sons were in middle school, I had this reoccurring fantasy about escaping to Hawaii – alone. All alone! In Leave Me, Maribeth knew that she had to figure out how to live her life differently and she came to realize that she couldn’t do that while living in her old life.
“She was dancing on a surfboard, juggling knives, while they all went about business as usual. But it wasn’t business as usual. She’d had open-heart surgery.”
I really liked that aspect of this book. While gone Maribeth learned about herself, how to care for herself, and how to live without fear. She did this on her own and with a fun cast of characters that populated her new life.
Even though I loved the “change” element of Leave Me I found the actual leaving part too much. While it’s a great fantasy, the way Maribeth left was a hard premise for me to swallow. I was frustrated with her inability to communicate with the people in her life. The motivation for her leaving was definitely built into the story, but to just walk out with 4-year olds and then have no communication for weeks and weeks? Gayle Forman’s previous books were young adult, and the way Maribeth left felt a little young adult to me. Despite that, I enjoyed the rest of Leave Me. I cheered for Maribeth as she went through her metamorphosis. It really was a very fun, fast book to read. Perfect for this time of year. Grade: B
http://www.novelvisits.com/leave-gayle-forman-review/
Primary Characters: Maribeth Klein – in her early forties, Maribeth is the harried working mom of 4-year old twins. Maribeth does it all! (There are many other characters, but all are supporting to Maribeth, This is her story.)
Synopsis: Maribeth Klein first notices she’s feeling off when working late one evening. Before she is forced to pay serious attention to herself she comes home, sleeps fitfully, walks her twins ten blocks to preschool, takes the bus home, does some work, walks to meet a friend for coffee, visits her CPA, and then finally goes to see her OB/GYN for a long overdue exam. It’s that doctor who finally recognizes Maribeth’s symptoms.
Maribeth isn’t really convinced that she’s had a heart attack until she’s being wheeled in to have a stent put in her heart. That procedure goes awry and Maribeth ends up having double bypass surgery. In what seems like an incredibly short recovery period, Maribeth is sent home with lots of instructions for a new lifestyle and a lot of fear. No one in her life gets how terrified Maribeth is. They seem to expect her to just pick up where she left off, but Maribeth can’t do that. As she gets more and more frustrated with those around her, Maribeth’s fear grows until she realizes she needs to leave. And that’s what she does.
Review: Hasn’t every woman dreamed of leaving her family at one point or another? When my sons were in middle school, I had this reoccurring fantasy about escaping to Hawaii – alone. All alone! In Leave Me, Maribeth knew that she had to figure out how to live her life differently and she came to realize that she couldn’t do that while living in her old life.
“She was dancing on a surfboard, juggling knives, while they all went about business as usual. But it wasn’t business as usual. She’d had open-heart surgery.”
I really liked that aspect of this book. While gone Maribeth learned about herself, how to care for herself, and how to live without fear. She did this on her own and with a fun cast of characters that populated her new life.
Even though I loved the “change” element of Leave Me I found the actual leaving part too much. While it’s a great fantasy, the way Maribeth left was a hard premise for me to swallow. I was frustrated with her inability to communicate with the people in her life. The motivation for her leaving was definitely built into the story, but to just walk out with 4-year olds and then have no communication for weeks and weeks? Gayle Forman’s previous books were young adult, and the way Maribeth left felt a little young adult to me. Despite that, I enjoyed the rest of Leave Me. I cheered for Maribeth as she went through her metamorphosis. It really was a very fun, fast book to read. Perfect for this time of year. Grade: B
http://www.novelvisits.com/leave-gayle-forman-review/
laurkimberley224's review
3.0
3.5 stars. Heart wrenching at times, this was a good read. It really shed light on the struggles (internal and external) that come with motherhood. If you’ve ever felt under appreciated or taken for granted or burnt out or just completely over everything, Maribeth will be an extremely relatable character.
mschrock8's review
4.0
I liked it. I can understand Maribeth's frustrations, but leaving was A BIG DEAL.