As far as family dramas go, I found If We're Being Honest to be a decent, light, enjoyable read. Starting with a shocking revelation about the family patriarch, Gerry, during his funeral, the book explores how each character deals with this revelation, their relationship with Gerry, as well their individual conflicts.
The remaining family includes Gerry's wife (Ellen), his 3 children (Wilma, JJ, Carol Ann), 4 grandchildren (Alice, Delia, Grant, Red) as well as significant others, so it was a lot of characters to keep track of. In general, the characters seemed a bit superficial -- it was difficult to really empathize with the pain or emotions they were supposedly experiencing because everything seemed sort of glossed over. Some of the characters were quite annoying (that would mostly be you, Carol Ann, but also JJ, Delia, and Grant). They ended up having about one scene each that redeemed them, but their characters lacked complexity.
I would compare this book to an entertaining sit-com, but literary fiction with deep character development, it is not.
The remaining family includes Gerry's wife (Ellen), his 3 children (Wilma, JJ, Carol Ann), 4 grandchildren (Alice, Delia, Grant, Red) as well as significant others, so it was a lot of characters to keep track of. In general, the characters seemed a bit superficial -- it was difficult to really empathize with the pain or emotions they were supposedly experiencing because everything seemed sort of glossed over. Some of the characters were quite annoying (that would mostly be you, Carol Ann, but also JJ, Delia, and Grant). They ended up having about one scene each that redeemed them, but their characters lacked complexity.
I would compare this book to an entertaining sit-com, but literary fiction with deep character development, it is not.