Alternate Side

The plot: boring rich people live in big houses in New York City and think about how much they dislike other boring rich people while dealing with the minor frustrations of everyday life.

i tried to dnf this, but ended up having too much time on my hands not to finish it, which i think speaks volumes to how much i didn't want to continue reading this book.

it might be that i was in the wrong mood/mindset when i first picked up this book. the plot is heavily character relationship driven, but i absolutely did not care for any of the characters, and thus i didn't care for any of the plot. just not my cup of tea, but not a terrible read. i don't really feel like i wasted my time, but i do wish i had picked up another book from the library.

maybe i'll give it another try in the future.

This book about white privilege and first world problems is made doubly annoying by also being blandly boring. The book description makes it sound like the assault on the neighborhood handyman is just the start of a chain of events that shake up the fabric of their wealthy New York lives, but then...nothing else happens. People disagree, children grow up, marriages end, and jobs change. I don't always love Anna Quindlen's books, but I never before had to force myself to finish. Seems like a book that will be embraced by New Yorker readers who don't mind spending 300 pages with these insular, entitled characters.