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Tracy Bloom

Teoksen No-One Ever Has Sex on a Tuesday tekijä

14 teosta 152 jäsentä 13 arvostelua

Tietoja tekijästä

Image credit: Tracy Bloom

Sarjat

Tekijän teokset

Merkitty avainsanalla

Yleistieto

Virallinen nimi
Blythe, Tracy
Syntymäaika
1971
Sukupuoli
female
Kansalaisuus
UK
Asuinpaikat
Duffield, Derbyshire, England, UK

Jäseniä

Kirja-arvosteluja

The Wife Who Got a Life is a light-hearted read following 48-year-old Cathy as she sets out to reclaim her life over a year-long period. I liked the journal/diary form this book used, and I found it particularly helpful to get to know Cathy and understand her reasoning, her fears and her dreams.

This is clearly meant to be a light-hearted read and, even though I didn't find most of the humour particularly funny, I definitely noticed the multiple attempts and can see how other readers might find this a laugh-out-loud read. Maybe I just wasn't the target audience for this, but while a lot of the issues Cathy faced felt very realistic, I was often quite irritated by her attitude and that of the people around her.

None of the characters were particularly likeable, nor did they feel very well developed. In fact, most came across as embodying a specific stereotype (e.g. "rebellious teenager", "selfish younger sister", "supportive friend" and so on) and barely ever moved from that.

Cathy also came across as extremely passive-aggressive, complaining about people not behaving like she'd like them to but never actually telling anyone what she expects. And, surprise surprise, basically all of the problems she identified with her life at the beginning are solved by having actual conversations with people. I also really didn't like her constantly shifting the blame on others for things she could have honestly proactively tackled herself.

Her conversation with a GP was a prime example, where she tried to make it out as it being the health practice's fault for her not knowing about the pill until she was 48 years old. Now, I'm all for having a serious conversation about the multiple ways health systems globally fail women and do not account for their specific needs, but this is taking it one step too far, seeing as this book is set in a place and age where all this information is available if one only were to look for it and the main character is a middle-class, educated white woman.

Overall, this was an underwhelming read for me at best. I definitely appreciated the effort that went into trying to tell this story in a light-hearted yet reflective way, but sadly it just fell flat for me.

I received an e-arc of this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way.
… (lisätietoja)
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
bookforthought | Nov 7, 2023 |
Thanks so much to LAW Ltd and netgalley for allowing me to review this book xx

Absolutely Tangolicious. This really was a heartwarming fun read. Plenty of dancing, some “Ooo LaLa” and tears and tantrums really make this a fun enjoyable read.

Sequins a plenty, dancing shoes a must. This is a pleasing page turner that will have you wanting to strut your stuff on the dancefloor.
My blog is : https://thereadingshed.wordpress.com/… (lisätietoja)
 
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TheReadingShed01 | Feb 25, 2023 |
I really wanted to like this book.. and there was bits that I did like, parts made me laugh out loud, but looking at the book as a whole, it was boring and I really didn't see the point towards the end.. I felt like I've wasted a lot of time for nothing...
 
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thinkbook11 | 2 muuta kirja-arvostelua | Jun 14, 2020 |
This was an audiobook from Audible, which I listened to over a number of runs during one week. It is narrated by Juanita McMahon, who did a great job overall. There were seven main characters, and she did give voice to them all.

The story concerns three couples – Chris and Beth, Tony and Sarah, and Marie and Duncan. The women have been friends for years, and the men are therefore friends by default, and all six of them meet up once a month at each other’s houses, for a dinner party. Then one night, Chris invites his friend Simon along; Simon is gorgeous – and heartbroken because his wife has just left him for another man.

Having another person in the mix soon changes up the dynamic of the group, as the men feel their territory threatened (with the exception of Chris) and the women are intrigued by the new face.

Throughout the year and the various dinner parties, Simon’s role in their lives means new alliances and new animosities are forged and created and eventually everything culminates in one unforgettable dinner party at his house…

On paper, there is a lot going for this book, and I would say I enjoyed it – for the most part. For the first 45 minutes I had severe doubts though, and considered giving up on it. Repetition can be quite funny, but at times throughout the book, and especially in the first part, it seemed as though Bloom had had some kind of bet to see how many times she could shoehorn a particular word in. In the first part for example, we see just how obsessed with dips Chris is. He loves his dips, and we are hit over the head with this fact as the word dips is trotted out too many times to count. Later on the same thing happens when Beth laments that people find her cuddly. How many times do we need to hear the word cuddly to realise that it annoys her? (It annoyed me too!)

The characters are a mish-mash, and for the most part, not particularly likeable. Chris is so relentlessly cheerful, but yet completely oblivious to what is going on around him (and his failure to pick up on social cues is annoying) that he just comes across as shallow and stupid. I did love him for one scene though, which I won’t reveals here as it would be a potential spoiler.

Tony is pompous and chauvinistic and goodness knows why Sarah put up with him!

Marie is the worst of all. Vacuous, self-absorbed, vain and insensitive, I couldn’t stand her and was amazed that she had managed to find two friends and a nice man who wanted to marry her (I liked Duncan most of all).

What I would say is that the writing flowed well, and it was an undemanding listen/read. I’d give it a middling scream which is to say that I didn’t think it was brilliant, but it kept me entertained enough while I pounded the streets.
… (lisätietoja)
 
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Ruth72 | 1 muu arvostelu | Dec 20, 2019 |

Listat

Tilastot

Teokset
14
Jäseniä
152
Suosituimmuussija
#137,198
Arvio (tähdet)
½ 3.4
Kirja-arvosteluja
13
ISBN:t
64
Kielet
4

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