A review by peripetia
Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey

lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

This book was absolutely terrible. I picked this up and finished it for an experiment on the most millennial books I can find. This did fulfill that purpose.

The main character is just horrible. Not a horrible person, exactly, but just so immature, self-centered, self-sabotaging, whiny overgrown infant. She does that "oh no I shouldn't be thinking about my stupid problems because some people have real problems and also climate change" and then feels bad about THAT without ever doing any real self-reflection or taking any action. Every chance for feeling empathy for the character was destroyed by her being obnoxious.

There was not enough material for a whole book. The only lesson I walked away with was "divorce really isn't that big of a deal". I think this book was written as the author's self-therapy. It does not make a good novel. I ended up finishing the audiobook at 1,5 speed because listening to her navel-gazing was sheer torture.