Kari Ann Sweeney's Reviews > Same As It Ever Was

The Most Fun We Ever Had is one of my favorite novels, so I was eager to get my hands on Lombardo’s sophomore effort, 𝐒𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐀𝐒 𝐈𝐓 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝗪𝐀𝐒 (Pub 06.18) Thanks to my dear friend @jamie.of.all.trades who not only picked up a bound galley but got it personalized to me from the author.

As eager as I was, it took me over a month to read. It took a beat to get into, so stick with it. Once I hit my stride I still read it slowly because the writing, story and characters required my undivided attention. It also required a hefty supply of book darts.

I adored it. This sweeping literary family drama packs a punch. It’s a touching, complicated and introspective story about long standing relationships as a woman- being a friend, daughter, wife and mother. You’ve heard the phrase that encourages authors to “𝘞𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸.” But Clare Lombardo disrupts this thought with her uncanny ability to write about things she “doesn’t know” with profound depth and understanding. She masterfully crafts characters who deploy statements that deeply resonate with me on multiple levels. She takes an observant perspective of seemingly universal imperfections of people and unfurls the motivations with deft nuance. It blows my mind.

You know what else blows my mind? The last 15 pages left me gutted with tears running down my face.

“𝘐𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱? 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘹𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘩 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬? 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴- 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴- 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘩𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰.”