The Things We Do For Love by Kristin Hanna
Started this book on Wednesday, 7/27, finished last night, 7/30.
Published in June 2005.
A "women's fiction" book about a woman who is trying to deal with her past - can't have children, had a baby that died, also had a teenager several years ago who was going to give them her baby for adoption but ran off (gee, what foreshadowing! lol) ; her inability to deal with this results in a divorce and she moves back home...starts working for her family restaurant, (her father also died in the last year); meets a girl in the neighborhood whose mother is a total loser (almost unbelievably so) and the girl has had to make her way through life on her own (and does a very good job of it). Told from 2 viewpoints: Angie Malone, the divorcee, and Lauren Ribido, the teenaged girl. Lauren gets pregnant by her quarterback boyfriend (whose parents are rich), she tries to get an abortion but can't go through with it.
Most of the book is about Angie learning to deal with her family and Lauren, and the culmination of this is that she's able to truly deal with it when Lauren decides she wants to keep her baby. The end, where Lauren comes back to live with Angie and Conlan (who just got remarried), is somewhat anticlimactic but, it's all right I guess.
I liked the pacing, the detail about the NW Pacific coast, details of restaurant, and the sisters...sometimes didn't like the repetitive style of writing; sometimes I felt Hannah was just saying things over and over again. But by the time I was 3/4 through the book I stopped noticing that stuff and just wanted to know how the plot turned out. I was a bit disappointed by the misleading info on the back of the book...saying she finds "a man" who helps her find love blah blah - well, the man is her ex-husband, and they get remarried.
One of the most annoying things about this book: the repetitive "Couldn't go down that road" cliches are littered throughout the book both in narration and dialogue. urg. And people always taking "long, hot showers." lol.
One of the coolest things about this book: there are about 4-5 moments when I couldn't hold back a tear. I like those moments. Also, the author always described what the characters were wearing...it was kinda nice, actually...although there was a lot of black, and I might have liked the story just the same if I hadn't known what they were wearing every time I saw them in a scene. Nonetheless, I was definitely pulled emotionally into the story. Also liked all the family dynamics: Lauren's family (or lack thereof), Angie's family, even David's family - good stuff.
Next book: The Witches, by Roald Dahl
Published in June 2005.
A "women's fiction" book about a woman who is trying to deal with her past - can't have children, had a baby that died, also had a teenager several years ago who was going to give them her baby for adoption but ran off (gee, what foreshadowing! lol) ; her inability to deal with this results in a divorce and she moves back home...starts working for her family restaurant, (her father also died in the last year); meets a girl in the neighborhood whose mother is a total loser (almost unbelievably so) and the girl has had to make her way through life on her own (and does a very good job of it). Told from 2 viewpoints: Angie Malone, the divorcee, and Lauren Ribido, the teenaged girl. Lauren gets pregnant by her quarterback boyfriend (whose parents are rich), she tries to get an abortion but can't go through with it.
Most of the book is about Angie learning to deal with her family and Lauren, and the culmination of this is that she's able to truly deal with it when Lauren decides she wants to keep her baby. The end, where Lauren comes back to live with Angie and Conlan (who just got remarried), is somewhat anticlimactic but, it's all right I guess.
I liked the pacing, the detail about the NW Pacific coast, details of restaurant, and the sisters...sometimes didn't like the repetitive style of writing; sometimes I felt Hannah was just saying things over and over again. But by the time I was 3/4 through the book I stopped noticing that stuff and just wanted to know how the plot turned out. I was a bit disappointed by the misleading info on the back of the book...saying she finds "a man" who helps her find love blah blah - well, the man is her ex-husband, and they get remarried.
One of the most annoying things about this book: the repetitive "Couldn't go down that road" cliches are littered throughout the book both in narration and dialogue. urg. And people always taking "long, hot showers." lol.
One of the coolest things about this book: there are about 4-5 moments when I couldn't hold back a tear. I like those moments. Also, the author always described what the characters were wearing...it was kinda nice, actually...although there was a lot of black, and I might have liked the story just the same if I hadn't known what they were wearing every time I saw them in a scene. Nonetheless, I was definitely pulled emotionally into the story. Also liked all the family dynamics: Lauren's family (or lack thereof), Angie's family, even David's family - good stuff.
Next book: The Witches, by Roald Dahl
posted by systemlove @ 11:54 AM
0 comments
