#BookReview: Polite Calamities by Jennifer Gold

Atmospheric But Long. This book almost feels like a Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid, but an East Coast variant. It has the same 60s era setting, the same type of fire-based setup and ending, but then tells a more “East Coast” feeling tale of the era, in some ways dealing with some of the same kinds of relational topics… but from that “Old Money” / “High Society” kind of East Coast / New England vibe.

That noted, this is far from a clone of the other, and it does what it does in showing the various relationship dynamics of its ladies – each in different societal strata – remarkably well. Gold clearly put in a lot of effort to make each of these women as real and relatable as possible, and she truly did a good job there – we begin to sympathize to a degree even with our ostensible villain of the tale… even as she continues to show *why* she is the villain. Along the way, we encounter so much of that admittedly lily white social scene and period the tale is set in, in interesting ways that show both the warts and the beauty of each of our characters.

The one real criticism I have here is that the book *does* go perhaps 30-50 pages long. Not a “Return Of The King After The Coronation” slog, but certainly a “this could’ve been trimmed a bit” feeling, at least after completing it. Now, where, exactly, could the cuts have been made… becomes perhaps less clear. Which would perhaps indicate that the book is exactly as long as it needed to be. I’ll leave it to the reader of this review to read the book for yourself and make your own calls there. (Also, please leave a review when you do. They don’t have to be anywhere near as wordy as mine tend to be – 24 words will be accepted on any review site I know of, including the big corporate ones.)

Ultimately this was a solid book of its kind, one that *should* be seen as an equal or perhaps even superior of Malibu Rising… but which clearly hasn’t had Reid’s marketing people behind it. 😉

Very much recommended.

This review of Polite Calamities by Jennifer Gold was originally written on August 1, 2024.

#BookReview: All We Could Still Have by Diane Barnes

Quick Read That Serves As A Good Look Into The Mind Of Some Childless People. I’ve struggled for nearly 10 days now to sit down and write out my thoughts on this book, and ultimately what I come down to is that this really is a really good look at how desperate some people are to have children – and the lengths they will go through to get them, up to and including risking everything else they claim to care about. As a sub-300 page book, it is also a relatively quick read, which helps because this is largely one dark and depressing tome (can a sub-300 page book be a ‘tome’? this one certainly feels like it) that will have many readers wanting to throw it out the nearest window, even if reading it on your Kindle or other device. There is just enough light here to keep it from being *too* dark and depressing, but seriously, if you’ve ever been anywhere near these issues in your “real” life… this one hits all too close to home. And while I, as a male, have never been in our female lead’s exact shoes – I’ve been near enough to her husband’s, as we actively weighed IVF and the “modern miracle” horrors it wreaks on the female body in a desperate ploy to *maybe* get pregnant. In the end, my wife and I actively chose to become childfree – yes, there is a difference between childfree and childless, and this book actively shows it. Childfree is happy not having kids. Childless is always feeling a void/ like you’ve missed out on something, as our lead here does. Still, for those who have never reason to consider this particular path or its varying branches… this really is truly a strong look into that overall mindset, for all its benefits and pitfalls. Very much recommended.

This review of All We Could Still Have by Diane Barnes was originally written on July 19, 2023.

#BookReview: Our Stolen Child by Melissa Wiesner

Heartfelt And Intriguing Tale That You Still Want To Throw Out The Nearest Window. This is truly a heartfelt and intriguing tale that explores the ethics, legalities, and emotions of both sides of an issue that is close enough to being all-too-real as to be scary. In this era of IVF, frozen eggs/ embryos, surrogate parents, and similar and related concepts, the central premise here of a lab screw up resulting in one couples’ embryo being implanted into nd successfully borne by a complete stranger… is truly scarily plausible, at minimum. Wiesner does a truly phenomenal job throughout this tale of showing the very real questions and emotions of such an issue from nearly every (female) angle – emotional, legal, ethical, relational, etc. The male characters… are a bit more one dimensional and lacking. They work well enough for the purposes of this story, but they’re never given the thought or care that the female characters are.

And yet, that isn’t what actually makes you want to throw this book out the nearest window. *That* comes from just how desperate both of these women are to have kids, that they’ll put themselves and everyone around them through such trauma and drama. I understand the perils of the childless, to a point. But as someone who is happily child *free* (yes, there is a difference – the “less” are those such as the women here that can never let go of the desire to have children, the “free” are those who have chosen to not have kids or who have embraced and celebrate that they will never have kids)… I admit that I’ll never understand the childless crowd. There is so *much* to be said about being childfree and how satisfying and fulfilling the childfree life can be, and Wiesner’s tale here shows just how fraught and horrifying the childless life can be.

But that last paragraph was a bit of a digression. Seriously, Wiesner does a phenomenal job here with the tale she has chosen to tell, to the level that it is abundantly clear that she herself is somewhere in the less/ free space or is *close* to someone who is. Very much recommended.

This review of Our Stolen Child by Melissa Wiesner was originally written on September 9, 2022.

#BookReview: The Boy Toy by Nicola Marsh

Excellent Case Study In Storytelling. Over the last month, I’ve read all three of the books Marsh is releasing (from three different publishers) over the course of six weeks from early October 2020 through mid November 2020 (when this, the last of the books in this “series”, releases). And each has been dramatically different from the last, which speaks to Marsh’s true skill as a storyteller. Second Chance Lane, the first of the series, was a Hallmarkie romance. My Sister’s Keeper, the second, was a weaving, winding, soap opera of a tale that my wife says would work well as a Lifetime Movie.

And here, with The Boy Toy, we get arguably the most cinematic of the three books, in the vein of a multicultural Knocked Up / Hundred Foot Journey. We get an older lead female. We get a look at various facets of Indian culture (that as my friend Ritu says in her own review, many of Western cultures won’t be as familiar with – more on that momentarily). We get a more-balanced-than-usual look at the struggles of infertility as it relates to those who actually want children. (Vs childfree people like me that *don’t* want children and thus infertility is actually a blessing of sorts.) We get an age-gap *ish* romance with the *female* being the older person in the couple.

And yes, we get sex. A lot of it. And all over the place, beginning as little as 10% into the book. If you’re looking for a “clean” / “sweet” romance… you’re not gonna want this one. 😉 Similarly, getting back to the cultural issues… Marsh does a good job of not hiding at least one Indian equivalent of what I call “Talibaptists” in the US. She does a great job of showing the pressure they can wield socially and the damage it can wreak, and she doesn’t shy away from this aspect at all – instead giving a solid example of how to overcome it. Every culture has these types, sadly, but Marsh shows them in depths not often explored, particularly in a romantic comedy, and again – shows her strength as a storyteller in doing so.

Ultimately though, this is a fun and funny romantic comedy that hits all the right notes, discusses some heavy topics, but leaves you satisfied in every way text on some surface can. Very much recommended.

This review of The Boy Toy by Nicola Marsh was originally written on October 23, 2020.