I actually agree with so much of this review! The book was well-written enough, and a couple of plot lines were more interesting than others, but all the stuff people gushed about left me cold.
On a separate note, I felt the same way you did for the longest time about ereads, but as I’ve mentioned before, they can be great for library books (which are now about 70% of my annual reading material). I have a very small handful of books I bought on my Kindle Paperwhite years ago but I use it so much for library ebooks, it’s paid for itself and then some (it is the one Amazon thing I don’t mind owning). Alternate option - if you have a tablet or good size phone - is to get the kindle app on that (which is what I first used) and/or use the Libby or Overdrive app for various books. While those screens are still more like computer screens, it’s a more reader-friendly way of consuming ebooks!
Thanks for the good word and for the advice! I think I am going to bite the bullet soon and get a Kindle. Your point about the library books is great, and I'm trying to be better about making the distinction between books I want to read and books I want to take up space in my apartment. So an e-reader seems like the way to go, but I will still be getting hard copies from indie stores too.
Yes, I purge books every so often because I really don't need to own every single thing I've read, but the library element of Kindle life really helps with reducing the need for that step altogether. I still prefer paper books and always have to break up my Kindle reads with them, but it's just about ~ balance ~ !
Ooh I have yet to read this but yours is the first review I’ve seen that isn’t a rave! Which I think is helpful - I feel like I’m almost always let down when I finally read whatever book EVERYONE else is obsessed with. Also, completely feel you on the digital book think. I’ve also been trying to read more ARCs, most as ebooks, and I just can’t sink into them the way I do a physical book.
When everyone is raving about something I'm instantly suspicious, but I went into Luster really wanting to like it. It just didn't speak to me. Let me know if you read it. I'd love to hear your take!
I'm really wrestling with the ereader question, but I think in the end I'll get one. As long as I balance e-reads with regular books I think it will be fine. Nothing will stop me from picking books up at used and indie shops, but I also want to be current and the e-reader seems essential for that.
Great review! I did not love this book either, I just liked it. I did not understand all the hype. The premise was weird. Who lets their husband’s mistress move in with them? I saw the author at an event and she was good to listen to. Ultimately, I felt like this book was not for me.
I have had a Kindle for years and now I use it more for borrowing new from the library and for book club books I am not really interested in.
Thanks, Kate! While this book wasn't for me, either, I am looking forward to seeing what she writes next. And I think I'm going to bite the bullet and get a Kindle. You and Rad raise the really good point about library books making it a worthwhile cost-saving / irl-book curation tool.
Agree 100%. Mostly scouring second hand bookshops for my reading material and thus avoiding most over-hype, I should have smelt a rat when I discovered this in pristine hardback for three quid at Oxfam. I didn't hate it but those stream of consciousness paragraphs bored me. And surely Eric was the blandest love interest in many a book. I put a lot down to me being a 65 year old Brit, but I have never reached for Google so much in a novel (typing fingers in overdrive in the Comicon section).
I think maybe I was too old for this book?
I will Kindle at a pinch but reading from a screen feels like work and is not a tactile experience. However, I did wish I'd Kindled Luster, as I could have saved all my looked-up words for posterity. I have passed the book on to my 24 year old.
Pristine hardbacks at cut-rate prices is a great warning sign! I'm going to keep that in mind! I think you're so right about Eric. Her attraction to him didn't make sense to me. Maybe I'm too old as well, but people don't just teleport into relationships. There has to be at least something that intrigues the potential partner, even in a casual fling. Maybe I'm too old, too, lol!
I'm currently reading Rachel Cusk's new book on a screen and I'm not liking the experience all over again. It does feel like work. Thanks for your comment!
It’s so interesting to hear another perspective on a “hot” book. Thanks BoG for giving us your unique insights! Happy New Year!
Thank you, friend! Happy new year! 🙌
I actually agree with so much of this review! The book was well-written enough, and a couple of plot lines were more interesting than others, but all the stuff people gushed about left me cold.
On a separate note, I felt the same way you did for the longest time about ereads, but as I’ve mentioned before, they can be great for library books (which are now about 70% of my annual reading material). I have a very small handful of books I bought on my Kindle Paperwhite years ago but I use it so much for library ebooks, it’s paid for itself and then some (it is the one Amazon thing I don’t mind owning). Alternate option - if you have a tablet or good size phone - is to get the kindle app on that (which is what I first used) and/or use the Libby or Overdrive app for various books. While those screens are still more like computer screens, it’s a more reader-friendly way of consuming ebooks!
Thanks for the good word and for the advice! I think I am going to bite the bullet soon and get a Kindle. Your point about the library books is great, and I'm trying to be better about making the distinction between books I want to read and books I want to take up space in my apartment. So an e-reader seems like the way to go, but I will still be getting hard copies from indie stores too.
Yes, I purge books every so often because I really don't need to own every single thing I've read, but the library element of Kindle life really helps with reducing the need for that step altogether. I still prefer paper books and always have to break up my Kindle reads with them, but it's just about ~ balance ~ !
That’s exactly right. Balance is the key! I think I will take the plunge into this new digital world soon lol!
Ooh I have yet to read this but yours is the first review I’ve seen that isn’t a rave! Which I think is helpful - I feel like I’m almost always let down when I finally read whatever book EVERYONE else is obsessed with. Also, completely feel you on the digital book think. I’ve also been trying to read more ARCs, most as ebooks, and I just can’t sink into them the way I do a physical book.
When everyone is raving about something I'm instantly suspicious, but I went into Luster really wanting to like it. It just didn't speak to me. Let me know if you read it. I'd love to hear your take!
I'm really wrestling with the ereader question, but I think in the end I'll get one. As long as I balance e-reads with regular books I think it will be fine. Nothing will stop me from picking books up at used and indie shops, but I also want to be current and the e-reader seems essential for that.
Great review! I did not love this book either, I just liked it. I did not understand all the hype. The premise was weird. Who lets their husband’s mistress move in with them? I saw the author at an event and she was good to listen to. Ultimately, I felt like this book was not for me.
I have had a Kindle for years and now I use it more for borrowing new from the library and for book club books I am not really interested in.
Thanks, Kate! While this book wasn't for me, either, I am looking forward to seeing what she writes next. And I think I'm going to bite the bullet and get a Kindle. You and Rad raise the really good point about library books making it a worthwhile cost-saving / irl-book curation tool.
Agree 100%. Mostly scouring second hand bookshops for my reading material and thus avoiding most over-hype, I should have smelt a rat when I discovered this in pristine hardback for three quid at Oxfam. I didn't hate it but those stream of consciousness paragraphs bored me. And surely Eric was the blandest love interest in many a book. I put a lot down to me being a 65 year old Brit, but I have never reached for Google so much in a novel (typing fingers in overdrive in the Comicon section).
I think maybe I was too old for this book?
I will Kindle at a pinch but reading from a screen feels like work and is not a tactile experience. However, I did wish I'd Kindled Luster, as I could have saved all my looked-up words for posterity. I have passed the book on to my 24 year old.
Pristine hardbacks at cut-rate prices is a great warning sign! I'm going to keep that in mind! I think you're so right about Eric. Her attraction to him didn't make sense to me. Maybe I'm too old as well, but people don't just teleport into relationships. There has to be at least something that intrigues the potential partner, even in a casual fling. Maybe I'm too old, too, lol!
I'm currently reading Rachel Cusk's new book on a screen and I'm not liking the experience all over again. It does feel like work. Thanks for your comment!