pickFor a novel filled with exasperating characters, this was quite a fun read! While the characters are exasperating, they're also complex and darkly funny, with commentary about wealth---inherited and otherwise---race, antisemitism, and the challenges of being in a family. I love that there's no character in this novel that I can entirely love or entirely despise.
pickNot gonna lie, after reading very mixed reviews and seeing the length of both the entire book and each chapter, I almost bailed before I started.
But .. I'd adored Fleischman and dove in.
So worth it! No way I'd have seen all the plot, and such a brilliant tone of narration, slightly judging but also explaining.
Very impressive.
pickOver the decades several young women in Ireland go missing. When remains are discovered, and another young woman is kidnapped, it‘s a matter of time until her body is found unless she can be quickly found. NY detective Maggie D‘arcy whose cousin disappeared 23 years ago in Dublin is notified the unique scarf her cousin was wearing is found, she heads to Ireland. The mysterious circumstances span the ocean. How many killers are there? 4.25/5
pickI would not recommend this book to a lot of people, even those who loved Fleishman Is In Trouble like I did. If you need likable characters, or atleast unlikable characters to learn a lesson, get their comeuppance, or a twist where you realize maybe the weren‘t so bad as you thought, this book is not for you. But it was for me, the way each child dealt with their generational trauma in wildly different and equally unhealthy ways was fascinating.
2/3 of the way through. Fleishman Is in Trouble was one of my favorite reads of last year and while this book is nothing like it (sans New York and Jewish main characters) I still find it delectable. There was a lot more room for sympathy in Fleishman whereas it‘s hard to feel bad for any character in the Long Island Compromise. But I don‘t mind reading about people making bad decisions and I‘m a big fan of plots about living a split/secret life.
pickTotally insane, with a perfectly unsatisfying ending
bailedSUCH an annoying bunch of people who keep ignoring their telephones and keep making stupid, hysterical decisions. All because of the kidnapping of their father decades earlier? I don‘t even want to know. I feel as irritated as I did when reading Fleishman. Although I managed to finish that one.
Note to self: ignore future works by this author!!
#ToB25Longlist
#weeklyforecast 02/25
After the fabulous Intermezzo I like to stay in Ireland a bit longer and am starting the third John Boyne in his Elements series. It‘s supposed to be very dark but I‘m sure I‘ll love it. It‘s short so I‘ll soon start the tagged book too, which is another from the #ToB25Longlist.
I kind of hated Fleishman so my hopes are not too high!
panTfw you finish a book that you wish you hadn‘t… The first third was pretty good but then it just got annoying. I kept thinking the author might be able to bring the magic back but it never got there for me and the ending was kind of like a slow fart. I wouldn‘t recommend it.
pickAnother #ToBlonglist book ticked off, although I‘ve been meaning to read this for some time.
If you like dysfunctional family stories where all of the characters are pretty awful, then this one‘s for you! Like many ‘family sagas‘, it worked well for me on audio as I think it may have been a touch too long / wordy in print and I would have been tempted to start skim-reading.
Whilst I liked Fleishman as well, this was better.
