The Most Fun We Ever Had (Reese's Book Club Pick): A Novel

In this “rich, complex family saga” (USA Today) full of long-buried family secrets, Marilyn Connolly and David Sorenson fall in love in the 1970s, blithely ignorant of all that awaits them. By 2016, they have four radically different daughters, each in a state of unrest.
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Readers say *The Most Fun We Ever Had* offers a deeply detailed, emotionally rich family saga with complex, relatable characters that many find compel...
Really a 4 1/2 star book to me!
thenextgoodbook.com
The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo
532 pages
What’s it about?
This is the story of a marriage and the family that follows. Marilyn and David meet in the 1970's and fall in love. They subsequently marry and have a family. This is their story.
What did it make me think about?
Marriage, love, family, children, loss. This is a novel with many characters that have pretty good lives. But as is true in real life- no one gets away with out some heartbreak.
Should I read it?
I think most readers who enjoy literary fiction will find something to like about this book. Lombardo has written vivid, unique characters that practically jump off the page. I really liked this book- but I must admit that sometimes I just wanted to shake these characters and tell them to "get it together"! Having said that, I appreciated that each character in this book had a unique perspective and a set of problems that go along with that perspective.
Quote-
"It was in moments like this that Wendy remembered how much she loved her sister- her prissy, perfectionist, annoying-as-all-get-out sister- because Violet was the only person on the earth who had experienced the world in almost the exact same way, in real time, step for step, save for those first few months of life, but even then she'd been accompanied by Violet for most of the time, Violet growing inside of their mother."
If you liked this try-
A Place For Us by Fatima Farheer Mirza
Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak
Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger
A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler
thenextgoodbook.com
The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo
532 pages
What’s it about?
This is the story of a marriage and the family that follows. Marilyn and David meet in the 1970's and fall in love. They subsequently marry and have a family. This is their story.
What did it make me think about?
Marriage, love, family, children, loss. This is a novel with many characters that have pretty good lives. But as is true in real life- no one gets away with out some heartbreak.
Should I read it?
I think most readers who enjoy literary fiction will find something to like about this book. Lombardo has written vivid, unique characters that practically jump off the page. I really liked this book- but I must admit that sometimes I just wanted to shake these characters and tell them to "get it together"! Having said that, I appreciated that each character in this book had a unique perspective and a set of problems that go along with that perspective.
Quote-
"It was in moments like this that Wendy remembered how much she loved her sister- her prissy, perfectionist, annoying-as-all-get-out sister- because Violet was the only person on the earth who had experienced the world in almost the exact same way, in real time, step for step, save for those first few months of life, but even then she'd been accompanied by Violet for most of the time, Violet growing inside of their mother."
If you liked this try-
A Place For Us by Fatima Farheer Mirza
Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak
Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger
A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler
I’d say 3.5 stars rounded up due to the depth of the characters and the writing. This is Claire Lombardo’s first novel and it is reminiscent of This Is Us but with more than a PG-13 rating (I could have done with less sex scenes). The parents in this family saga have a wonderful marriage. The four adult girls all have issues and need counseling at the very least. I could tell the author is a former Social Worker from how she writes these characters. They are all very believable. Where this novel fell down for me was that it started to drag. I think she needed to edit it down more.
Great character development but so depressing.
Discussion 7/15/24
It felt very long
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