This one really divided us. A real marmite of a book. It’s middling average hides a more extreme range and whilst for some it was the favourite so far, a couple of us really struggled to finish. Our comments probably sum it up best…
“I really enjoyed it – the characters were preposterous but I knew that from the start and entered in to the spirit of it. Sharp and funny I wanted to keep reading. Made me chuckle out loud. I liked the style and I liked Shriver as an author. Deliberately controversial, it’s the one I have enjoyed most so far. Completely lighthearted.I don’t think you are meant to identify with the characters. I loved it – thought it was different.”
“Some bits made me wince and laugh as very close to the bone. Quite liked the main character.”
“Probably the worst book I have ever read. Vile, snobbish character – made me glad I didn’t have anyone like that in my life.”
“I quite liked it – I thought she had something to say.”
“Really disliked Serenata, the main character, as she was far too extreme. Some of the quips made me laugh out loud. Remington was ok, the rest of the characters were off the scale of ridiculousness. I did however, care enough about what happened to get to the end so it can’t have been all bad”.
“Boring, judgemental vitriol. Ridiculous names, ridiculous characters, ridiculous scenarios. Maybe that’s the point, but it didn’t work for me.”
“Annoying that the children were considered neglected because the mother wasn’t there when the Dad was.”
Overall score 5.4
Range 1 – 9
