This is the seventh book in my #atozchallenge! I'm challenging myself to read a book from my shelves that starts with each letter of the alphabet.
In hThis is the seventh book in my #atozchallenge! I'm challenging myself to read a book from my shelves that starts with each letter of the alphabet.
In high school, Lizzie made a choice--one she soon regrets--participating in something called the Great Game. The event alters the course of her life forever, along with a passionate relationship that ends in college. These moments, plus the influence of Lizzie's psychologist parents, who offer her little support as a kid, turn her into a melancholy and unfulfilled adult. Her husband, George, however, comes from a happy childhood with loving parents. He adores his family and they him. He also worships Lizzie, giving the two an unbalanced marriage. Can George and Lizzie survive an union on such unequal ground?
I'll confess that this book was not what I was expecting--I thought it was going to be a cheerful love story and a pick-me-up. It is a love story, though, all the same. George loves Lizzie. Lizzie, though, is lost in a love from the past. I'm not going to lie: Lizzie is a very frustrating character and a hard one for whom to care. She doesn't appreciate George, nor, really, much of her life. Now, she was truly saddled with terrible parents, so you have to grant her that. Her fixation on her past relationship makes you want to shake her, though.
"And because for years and years the voices in her head never let Lizzie forget that the Great Game had been a stupid idea right from the beginning and that she'd been an idiot for participating in it, her past was always there, a living thing. It shaped her present and future."
And of, of course, there is the Great Game--the event from high school which alters Lizzie's future. We can understand why Lizzie is Lizzie, but we can't always forgive her for her Lizzie type ways. Also, please note, there are a lot of football references in this book. A lot. I like football, but I'm not sure everyone who picks up a book like this will feel the same.
The story of George and Lizzie is told in very short vignettes (each with a title) that slowly move forward in time and alternate with Lizzie's past, mainly focusing on the Great Game, which so defined her life. This format takes much getting used to. There is no linear story here, but tiny bits and pieces of narrative from George and Lizzie. I almost abandoned the book when I first started--I couldn't get in the groove (and honestly, it's depressing). When I reluctantly returned to it a few days later, more prepared for the format, I could read it more easily.
In the end, I can't say I enjoyed this story. If I rated it purely on "like" factor, it would probably be a two-star read. Incorporating in Lizzie's life experiences and how a few things slowly grew on me, I'm giving this three stars, but only barely. (Also, I have real issues with how many kids from Lizzie's high school football team went on to the NFL. Maybe it's possible, but it seems insane.) 3 stars, but only eked out when they brought the chains out on the field to measure (too much?).
The Goodwin siblings--Perry, Jack, and Phoebe--live intertwined lives. All raised on the shore of a Connecticut lake, they are close yet often resentfThe Goodwin siblings--Perry, Jack, and Phoebe--live intertwined lives. All raised on the shore of a Connecticut lake, they are close yet often resentful of each other. Workaholic Perry begrudges his carefree younger brother, while Phoebe stresses over her expensive home renovation. When Jack returns home with Olivia, his new girlfriend, along with her young daughter, who rarely speaks, their presence upends the Goodwin's closeness. Then a fateful moment changes everything.
This was exactly the book I needed at the moment. It's an easy read about a family and their many problems. It has its serious moments, including some excellent commentary on the double standard women and girls face in terms of internet shaming, but it's also simple and easy to get into. The Connecticut lake setting is atmospheric and lovely and you can lose yourself in the family's problems instead of your own. The book is told from the various point of view of the siblings, their children, and their spouses, and it's dramatic and fun and intriguing. This is an emotional read and while nothing earth shattering, it's enjoyable. 3.5 stars, rounded up.
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