3 Stars...maybe even 2.5 if I'm being honest
First off, thank you to Goodreads and the publisher, Random House for this ARC via Goodreads giveaway.
This book just wasn't for me as you can see from my rating. I unfortunately struggled to stay engaged with this book through the entire thing. I was confused with the characters throughout the book however I kept going because I had hoped it would continue to get better.
Ruthie was married to Mike. They were two artists who dated, got pregnant and rushed to get married because it was the right thing. They had owned a property off the coast called the Orient. Once they separated they had to rent it out in order to stay afloat. This summer Adeline, who is as rich as can be, comes to rent the property. Mike and her fall in love, this makes Ruthie upset meanwhile Ruthie and Mike are trying to raise their 15 year old daughter, Jem, who is going through typical teen stuff. She encounters bullying, sex, loneliness, etc.
While all of this is going on we also have a story line of Doe who works at the museum where Ruthie was employed until recently. She is living a double life (you'll have to read to find out in what way). She gets involved with Adeline's Exes child who is also super rich and this is how the stories kind of tie together.
Honestly? This book just felt like a bunch of people whining for no reason. Look, maybe being around rich neighbors is hard at times but if you're not going to do much about it how can I feel empathy for you? The dialogue in this book was very hard for me to follow. As I stated earlier, it took me 200 pages into this book to start to understand who all the characters were. I found them all annoying and in no way relatable. I'm sure they are to some people but I struggled with every single character in this book.
Also, the text/email chapters were a little weird. I'm trying to figure out why they were in there? This book could have easily been cut 100 pages due to incessant dialogue and email/text chains.
This book was sent to me with the cover "Best Summer Read of 2018" and I'm sorry to say it was not for me. I could see how some people would like this book. I wouldn't go into it with the expectation of some complex situation which may have been my issue. If you want to read about Rich people with issues then you may like this book, it just sadly wasn't my cup of tea.
First off, thank you to Goodreads and the publisher, Random House for this ARC via Goodreads giveaway.
This book just wasn't for me as you can see from my rating. I unfortunately struggled to stay engaged with this book through the entire thing. I was confused with the characters throughout the book however I kept going because I had hoped it would continue to get better.
Ruthie was married to Mike. They were two artists who dated, got pregnant and rushed to get married because it was the right thing. They had owned a property off the coast called the Orient. Once they separated they had to rent it out in order to stay afloat. This summer Adeline, who is as rich as can be, comes to rent the property. Mike and her fall in love, this makes Ruthie upset meanwhile Ruthie and Mike are trying to raise their 15 year old daughter, Jem, who is going through typical teen stuff. She encounters bullying, sex, loneliness, etc.
While all of this is going on we also have a story line of Doe who works at the museum where Ruthie was employed until recently. She is living a double life (you'll have to read to find out in what way). She gets involved with Adeline's Exes child who is also super rich and this is how the stories kind of tie together.
Honestly? This book just felt like a bunch of people whining for no reason. Look, maybe being around rich neighbors is hard at times but if you're not going to do much about it how can I feel empathy for you? The dialogue in this book was very hard for me to follow. As I stated earlier, it took me 200 pages into this book to start to understand who all the characters were. I found them all annoying and in no way relatable. I'm sure they are to some people but I struggled with every single character in this book.
Also, the text/email chapters were a little weird. I'm trying to figure out why they were in there? This book could have easily been cut 100 pages due to incessant dialogue and email/text chains.
This book was sent to me with the cover "Best Summer Read of 2018" and I'm sorry to say it was not for me. I could see how some people would like this book. I wouldn't go into it with the expectation of some complex situation which may have been my issue. If you want to read about Rich people with issues then you may like this book, it just sadly wasn't my cup of tea.