I never thought you could romanticize being a handmaid this much. Or at all. I mean, I thought Jane Eyre's ambition to be a governess was a tad bit glamorized but this ... heh.
If I was to make the blurb for The House At Riverton I'd say: This story is basically about the scandal within a prominent family told through the eyes of a maid who eavesdropped on her employers the whole time. It dragged a bit (when they were describing how they were polishing silver) but I expected that.
It took me three tries before I got into it and in the end I'm glad I persisted (or someone else persisted because this book was highly recommended *coughshovedcough* to me). Ok seriously, if you're a Jane Austen fan you might enjoy this. I'm more into Charlotte Brontë and Mark Twain (if I ever read classics) but I still enjoyed reading this. I liked the twist, I sort of predicted it five paragraphs before it happened but it was ... pretty well thought of. I guess I should've predicted it from the beginning because they kept repeating it over and over and Grace kept repeating the word "secret" over and over but ... yeah.
What I enjoyed the most is not the story, though, but the characters. I loved some of them, hated some of them, was amused by some of them. I guess the characters were ... well built and they fit. Each and everyone of them. Florence's name making a short appearance was a bit cheesy but, hey, it worked. [Even Hannah being super selfish worked. I mean she was spoiled since she was a kid and she gets away with pretty much everything she did so her decisions weren't so surprising. I thought her character was super consistent.
If you're a Harry Potter fan and you haven't read this, you're doing yourself a disservice. I don't want to have to explain again how amazing I think this fanfic is anymore so just DOWNLOAD IT ... for FREE!!! I love how I didn't have to pay to extend my HP experience but I really hope this would come out in print and that Mr G. Norman Lippert gets paid. Yes, I know about copyright issues but *cougheEricVanLustbadercough*. For now, dear people, please buy this guy a coffee. Better yet, buy his non-JP works (that was what I did haha) here:http://www.jamespotterseries.com/. I mean, seriously.
Now, I am super sad to know that the author cannot promise to make another installment because life gets in the way. (That's why I said buy his other works. So he can continue writing more. Purely selfish reasons, I know. Lol.) All that being said, I think this is a good "ending" to the series. It didn't end per se. Like the author said, there's still a lot of story there. But some parts, somehow, gave me (so I'm assuming it would be the same experience for Potterheads) closure. Yes, I'm talking about the mirror of Erised. I wish he'd included Ron and Hermione in that scene, though.
Here are a few things I'd like to see on the possible installments: the "relationship" between James and Petra explained, George Weasley's spark and faith in magickind to come back, and more of the Snape paintings terrorizing James lol.
I'd really like a JP #5, #6 and #7. :(
Okay so nobody died. Yay! Still, it was boring.It was basically this guy who was making calls the whole year to get things in order. I was waiting for a conflict but there was none whatsoever. That's a lot coming from someone who doesn't like conflict very much. It also got predictable halfway through the book. As in I knew, somehow, who the wedding was for. I think it was because she said her daughter would regret it if she didn't have a "proper wedding" ... but that's just me.
The book was well written as in it was easy to read so it was okay. My major issue is in the story. I see why most women would love this book (that may sound stereotypical but, hey ...). I mean, who wouldn't want to feel like a queen and have her husband court her again ... and over and over again? I'd love that too but I feel for a guy who is faithful to his wife and did his best to provide for his family but, apparently, is still "majorly" flawed because ... I dunno, he couldn't say "I love you" all the time because it wasn't in his nature. It seems a bit petty. If, for example, he brought her a perfume for their anniversary, one that he let his secretary pick, would he have known that she felt that way? Would she have cried? Would she go to NY to be away on her own? Also, I'm not an expert on being a parent and in marital affairs but would a mother go to her kids about marital issues? Would a mother burden her children about it? Hey why don't I make my son a shock absorber, never mind that he'll surely pick my side and hate his father afterwards. Again, I'm no expert but I think I'd go to my friends. Or my siblings, even.
There's another side to this so why lay blame? Maybe she was too busy tending to the kids too that when they left, she, herself, didn't know what to do with the two of them being alone. She did bury and busy herself in redecorating the house after their kids left, right? And they didn't say in the book that she asked him to go away on vacation or anything. Men can be dense.
Don't get me wrong. I loved that they made the marriage work in the end. Or I should say HE did something to make it work in the end. People say a relationship is always a two-way street ...
I tried to like this book. I really did. But there's a certain demographic/audience for this and it looks like I'm not part of it. I didn't like this for the same reason that I don't click on every other video online that says "wahahaha laugh trip" or "watch Vice Ganda ________" or "buti nga sayo, gago". I didn't appreciate this for the same reason that I make sure I have my earphones on when in a PUV so I don't hear insert-PUV-radio-station-here DJs and their pick up lines. I couldn't jump into the bandwagon for the same reason I couldn't jump into our local TV's bandwagon. I get where the humor comes from. I know why it should be funny. I just wasn't laughing. My boss saw me reading it and said it was supposed to be funny so why did I look pissed? For the record, I always look pissed so I wasn't pissed. I didn't like the book, yes, but I didn't hate it either. The writing is raw. There was a time when I thought everything raw and contemporary was cool. I'm not that person anymore so I guess that was the problem.
In all fairness, the hardest part to publishing anything is actually writing it so I envy this guy for getting through that. Buti pa siya. At saka natawa pala ako sa part na: Ganyan ang boyscout. Laging handa. May dalang nanay.
So much emotions in this book. Why would you do this to me [Nicey]??? Lol. I haven't had a good laugh-cry from a book in a while. When I got near the end I was practically bawling. Yes I was exaggerating but if you've read the book, I think you'd know what I'm talking about. If not then I'd say the last time I felt this good was when Dumbledore awarded Neville 10 points at the end of their term during their first year at Hogwarts. The stories aren't the same but my throat gets constricted the same way ... I'll stop with all the feels talk before I breakdown.
This is an easy-read for an adult and even if it's mostly middle-schoolers (and some HS students) narrating the story, it's something that's obviously written for all ages. I liked how people in the book made it clear that there will always be jerks and narrow-minded people in the world because it's true. It reminds me a lot of all the viral articles of students doing small deeds and even going out of their way to do a kind act to a classmate who needs it.
Great concept but it's for a very specific target audience ... which is kind of ironic because that's how the fairy tale in the book is seen by the adults and most young adults in it. It wasn't a bad read, it was fast, as a matter of fact, and was okay. I just didn't get the satisfaction I normally do when reading Picoult. I'm not comparing genres and I think it's super cool how writers sometimes switch but maybe they should've put the daughter's name on the cover using a bigger font than the mother's. I'm sure it helped a ton with marketing. I just think it's too much of a teenager's story (which it is) from a teenager ... and not her mother. But ... yay for mother-daughter books, hey?
