Wayward - BookWyrm

Sandra reviewed Wayward

Review of 'Wayward' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

between 4 or 4 1/2 stars

I really enjoyed this book. The main character Sam was very similar to me in many ways. The things she worries about are what a lot of women of a "certain age" contemplate as we reach certain milestones in our lives and realize we have accomplished most of what makes for a full life... now what? How do we look to the future when the future now does not hold anything "good". How can we create a life that is fullfilling to ourselves if we don't exactly identify with our careers? What makes for a good marriage? How can we change some of the injustices we are witness to without becoming sanctimonious? How do we learn to listen and let go?

Good stuff, even if there are no real answers, lol.

Rachel Unkefer reviewed Wayward

Review of 'Wayward' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

I don‚Äôt understand the hype over this book. Blurbs used the word ‚Äúcomplex,‚Äù which I think is the opposite of how the author portrays this protagonist. She seems like a person with little agency, buffeted about by popular culture. Her understanding of the complexity of US society is very shallow. I was underwhelmed by her.

Most of the other characters are flat out stereotypes. What in the world was the point of the ‚Äúcrone‚Äù groups and the ‚Äúresistance‚Äù meetings other than ridicule? And to have a gratuitous episode where the main character witnesses a teenager murdered by police? It seems like the author was trying to make a random tapestry of the last five years of American history through the eyes of one white woman, with low stakes, low consequences, little jeopardy.

Parts of the novel infuriated me. In particular, the subplot of one woman being ‚Äúcanceled‚Äù seemingly for no …

I don‚Äôt understand the hype over this book. Blurbs used the word ‚Äúcomplex,‚Äù which I think is the opposite of how the author portrays this protagonist. She seems like a person with little agency, buffeted about by popular culture. Her understanding of the complexity of US society is very shallow. I was underwhelmed by her.

Most of the other characters are flat out stereotypes. What in the world was the point of the ‚Äúcrone‚Äù groups and the ‚Äúresistance‚Äù meetings other than ridicule? And to have a gratuitous episode where the main character witnesses a teenager murdered by police? It seems like the author was trying to make a random tapestry of the last five years of American history through the eyes of one white woman, with low stakes, low consequences, little jeopardy.

Parts of the novel infuriated me. In particular, the subplot of one woman being ‚Äúcanceled‚Äù seemingly for no reason. In a bizarre choice, the author doesn‚Äôt even share the story of what happened. As readers, we‚Äôre just supposed to accept that ‚Äúwoke‚Äù groups wake up one day and mysteriously decide to shun one of their members for no reason and isn‚Äôt that crazy? Why not allow the reader to know what happened so she can judge for herself?

This book just seems like a mess to me

callan reviewed Wayward

upstate NY books are the song of my people

5 stars

I took a long time to finish this and I have no idea why; maybe I was trying to savor it. But I thought this was a truly beautiful portrait of a sad, forgotten city with all kinds of tragic dilapidated weirdness and ruined finery (Syracuse, NY). I lived there over 10 years ago and it was strange yet familiar to see a contemporary portrait - or a portrait of that place that’s been impacted and influenced by the contemporary in a way that seems separate in my mind. One of my favorites this year.