Thank you to Bookish First and Welbeck publishing book for a beautiful signed copy of this book!
I wanted a lighter, fun book for the beach, so I took this one along. I found it to fit the bill. It was a modern-day fairy tale (what would you expect from a title like The Godmothers?) that took a rather serious look at mental illness and family relationships. Looking at it as a fairy tale let me enjoy the over-the-top characters (Jeannie, Sullivan, Celine) without getting too frustrated. (I actually was pretty angry at Jeannie before taking this view, and I actually would've loved Sullivan in any story, regardless.)
The story is about Eliza, raised by her single, bipolar mother who never told her who her father was, and her search for that father 13 years after her mother's death. The search takes her from Australia to England and Ireland. Her two godmothers, Olivia and Maxie, help her through the process. While the ending is a happy one for Eliza, I liked that it was not all sunshine and roses. I liked the subtlety of some secrets still being kept. It debunks the idea that we need to have 100% transparency and allowed for people to still be imperfect. Also, I'm usually not a big fan of romance, but I was happy for this one, although I still could've done without the (not-at-all graphic) sex scene.
My one criticism is that I thought the book a bit long. I like my beach reads to be page turners from the get go. I didn't find things picking up until about page 250. The conversations and descriptions did not always add to the story or character development, and I thought things could be a bit tighter.
I wanted a lighter, fun book for the beach, so I took this one along. I found it to fit the bill. It was a modern-day fairy tale (what would you expect from a title like The Godmothers?) that took a rather serious look at mental illness and family relationships. Looking at it as a fairy tale let me enjoy the over-the-top characters (Jeannie, Sullivan, Celine) without getting too frustrated. (I actually was pretty angry at Jeannie before taking this view, and I actually would've loved Sullivan in any story, regardless.)
The story is about Eliza, raised by her single, bipolar mother who never told her who her father was, and her search for that father 13 years after her mother's death. The search takes her from Australia to England and Ireland. Her two godmothers, Olivia and Maxie, help her through the process. While the ending is a happy one for Eliza, I liked that it was not all sunshine and roses. I liked the subtlety of some secrets still being kept. It debunks the idea that we need to have 100% transparency and allowed for people to still be imperfect. Also, I'm usually not a big fan of romance, but I was happy for this one, although I still could've done without the (not-at-all graphic) sex scene.
My one criticism is that I thought the book a bit long. I like my beach reads to be page turners from the get go. I didn't find things picking up until about page 250. The conversations and descriptions did not always add to the story or character development, and I thought things could be a bit tighter.