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Things We Need (2013)

by Jennifer Close(Favorite Author)

3.33 of 5 Votes: 3

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Vintage Digital

review 1: I try only to review books if I have something positive to say. But this is a bestseller, so I guess it can weather a poor review.I picked this one up on the 'buy one get one half price' table at Waterstones when I bought Life After Life by Kate Atkinson. I was swayed by the 'NYT bestseller' splash and thought it sounded a bit like Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections - one of my favourite novels. Boy was I disappointed. The writing was fine. But the book was a depressing meander through the lives of half a dozen bores. I kept waiting for something - anything - to happen. The 'revelation that changes everything' was so underwhelming. The only person I could identify with was Claire, who couldn't wait to leave these people and get back to her real life in New York. I kept goi... moreng because I am one of those people who finds it almost impossible to abandon a book once I'm halfway through.So - not sure what all the fuss is about.
review 2: Parenthood, sibling rivalry, adult children returning home and the curve balls Life sometimes whips at us... Jennifer Close turns her observant aeye on these topics and how they affect the women in the Coffey family. At moments touching, cringe worthy, and laugh out loud funny, it would be easy to dismiss "The Smart One" as slightly elevated chick lit, but there's something so matter of fact and unsentimental about Close's story that it deserves more than being lumped in with those pink covered summer reads. less

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