Great review! Reader expectation does matter. That's why I don't trust reviewers who ALWAYS like EVERYTHING they review. I want to know what their expectations are, what books fall short, and why. To be honest, this sounds like a book I'd enjoy!
My husband is reading it now and finding it somewhat irritating, although he's by far less forgiving than I am when it comes to writing (he's also much better at it than I am, so there might be a connection there).
I'd be interested in hearing your take on it, if you ever read it; as I said, I think there are two distinct books here (and I still don't know how that chapter about husband #1 was supposed to fit in), but maybe a stronger editor could have made it work.
My TBR is so enormous it frightens me. It has reached the point that I can hardly wait for summer when there's nothing to do but stay in the house and read. Except I always have other things to do, too.
When we built our underground house in Indiana, part of the reason was to get at least a little bit off the grid, and to a certain extent we did that. I wish we had done more. And I wish we had been able to follow up on those plans when we moved to Arizona. Alas, none of it happened.
But I can say from personal experience that there is an enormous amount of satisfaction in making the attempt and achieving even partial success. Even at my age, I'd love the challenge again.
I'd be interested in hearing your take on it, if you ever read it; as I said, I think there are two distinct books here (and I still don't know how that chapter about husband #1 was supposed to fit in), but maybe a stronger editor could have made it work.
When we built our underground house in Indiana, part of the reason was to get at least a little bit off the grid, and to a certain extent we did that. I wish we had done more. And I wish we had been able to follow up on those plans when we moved to Arizona. Alas, none of it happened.
But I can say from personal experience that there is an enormous amount of satisfaction in making the attempt and achieving even partial success. Even at my age, I'd love the challenge again.