Where'd You Go, Bernadette

I rarely read this genre but I enjoyed it a lot. I would have liked a bit more update at the end but oh well.

ES/EN

Me ha alucinado esta lectura. No sabía muy bien qué esperar al leer la sinopsis, no parecía un thriller, pero tampoco no dejaba de parecerlo. La cosa no mejora cuando abres el libro y está contado a través de varios formatos epistolares, y la voz principal de la hija de la protagonista, Bee. Pero no por ello dejó de fascinarme, página tras página, a pesar de que, como la protagonista que da nombre al libro, no sabía hacia donde iba. Inteligente, cautivador, fresco y sorprendente, este libro me ha maravillado y me ha entregado una de las lecturas más fascinantes y satisfactorias del verano. 10/10
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I was blown away by this reading. I didn't quite know what to expect when I read the synopsis, it didn't sound like a thriller, but it didn't stop sounding like one either. It doesn't get any better when you open the book and it's told through various epistolary formats, and the main voice of the main character's daughter, Bee. But it didn't fail to fascinate me, page after page, even though, like the protagonist after whom the book is named, I didn't know where I was going. Intelligent, captivating, fresh and surprising, this book blew me away and delivered one of the most fascinating and satisfying reads of the summer. 10/10

2.5 stars

The first 50% were a 4-4.5 stars for me but then it just kept getting worse. I am so disappointed.

I loved the way this book was written. So clever to have it all together from emails, articles, etc. The characters were also well written. I just thought the wrap-up felt rushed.

i'm conflicted about how to rate this because the last quarter was really, really great but the majority of it was mostly “ok.” it does build up to a touching, cute ending that made me tear up a bit.

Bernadette, as a character, is quite compelling and fun to think about. her quirks, mannerisms, status as a failed, depressed, renowned genius architect who hates people makes her day-to-day interactions a joy to read.

the rest of the cast... are fine. Bee and Elgie really come into their own in the last quarter of the book and i wish they were more interesting earlier.

i started reading this after seeing the movie, which presents Bernadette in a more positive light, i'd say. the movie itself felt very disjointed, so after reading reviews that indicated the book pulled off the same story in a more satisfying way i just had to know for myself.

the book indeed does an overall better job with its collection of various emails, invoices, documents, dialogues, etc. of making an interesting story than the movie does. however, while it is indeed interesting, it's not enough to truly make me gush over its structure. it's cool, but i wish the book leaned way harder into things like invoices, receipts, all the different pieces of litter that one accumulates as they live live to convey narrative. a lot of the material used, like for example the documentary of people being interviewed who had associations with Bernadette, wouldn't have really been different if it was presented as a conversation between a few people. i might even say some of it is more effective in the movie.

as i mentioned in the beginning, the first three fourths of this book was ok but by itself wouldn't have been enough to keep me going through the novel had i not had an utter compulsion to compare its version of events with the movie (as well as maybe how much i related to, or liked to think i related to, Bernadette as a character). in the end i'm glad i did.

i did find this book to be weirdly inspiring.

“people like you must create. if you don't create, Bernadette, you will become a menace to society”

if you're someone who used to work on neat little projects but stopped for one reason or another, you might find a lot of yourself in Bernadette.

alright, now i'm off to go kick the shit out of life. thanks Bernadette ❤️

i think that the only thing i liked about this book (which earned it an extra star) is bernadette's unflinching love and support for her daughter (outside of the antarctica trip). everything else made me want to tear my ears off my head

Delightful satire. Listened to the audiobook and it was fantastic.

I ended up really enjoying this. I thought the characters were unique and well-drawn and I really rooted for Bernadette.

This was a fantastically witty, funny book. Bernadette is such a relatable and lovely character, as is Bee. I love the collected correspondence style used here, especially interspersed with chapters from Bee and Bernadette the way it is. This book is an easy and enjoyable read!

This was a great story! But, is it the story of a young girls love for her bizarre mother, or is it the story of true love that has flaws, or is it the story of one woman's insecurities and how she became so mentally unstable? I think it was just a fun tale of all of the above.
I found the book to be engaging and funny, and now I want to read more by this author. Isn't that what writing a book should be about? I will share and recommend often.

I have strong negative feelings towards this book. Bernadette is deeply unlikeable, downright ridiculous, and just a terrible person. Her daughter is given little to no actual personality, her husband lacks common sense, and the side characters are over the top ridiculous most likely to make Bernadette seem sane in comparison. Unfortunately, that's still not enough.

I did not find this heartwarming, funny, or enjoyable in any way. Every chapter was a new opportunity to stare at my Kindle in disbelief over the unrealistic actions and the bizarre stupidity of every character.

I thought this book was fantastic. It was incredibly witty, slightly absurdist, funny, aggravating, engrossing, and quick. The characters were well-balanced. The plot moved forward. There was an element of mystery. Overall, it is worth your time if you like all of the things just listed.

This isn't really my sort of read, but I found it to be a surprisingly clever approach to the mother-daughter story. The humor is sweet, but grows cloying by the end. That's not to say I laughed (I don't easily laugh), but I did smirk from time to time, particularly during the events leading up to the school's event for prospective parents.

The charm wore off though. It just went on too long for me. The author's choice to present the story in an epistolary form was probably the best; the choice to keep the story going so long was questionable. The best parts of this novel were Bernadette's squabbles with her neighbor and the events of the first few chapters. The longer it went, the more I felt myself disengaging.

A very engaging story. I'm glad one of the antagonists in the story realized the harm she had done and tried to make amends. There was growth in all the characters.

The writing format with the emails and notes, etc meant it took a while to get used to. I was expecting it to be written normally with the odd email, note or letter thrown in, so hence the surprise when it was the other way around.

I'm not usually a fan of that writing style so thought about giving up on it, but then decided to stick with it. I'm glad I did because I ended up enjoying it. I love how Bee understood her mum and was the only who wasn't interested in giving up on her! On another note, Audrey totally ended up surprising me (without giving too much away, she was really annoying until she went and did something that completely made me change my mind about her!).

It was a good, lighthearted read.

Lol. Wouldn't it just be great to run away from all your problems repeatedly and then just have everyone end up being like “well that's just Kaeli being Kaeli”. I found this book incredibly good at points (being the aspiring architect I am) when the author is talking about Bernadette and her career. It was also very quirky, which at times was entertaining, but at other times really has me lost as a reader. The narrator for the audiobook was ANNOYING AF. Do yourself a favor and DO NOT listen to this. All in all this was probably a 2.75/5 on the first read through. I am excited to read this again in bookclub because physically reading it may be a much better experience for me. However, I still believe this: too many loose ends untied or unexplained, missing puzzle pieces, unrealistic reactions of teenagers and husbands. Nothing about this book seemed typical, and it was beyond the realm of explanation. To clarify, all of the characters were developed and you as the reader understood mostly what each character stood for. But, the characters were not explained so fully in their quirkiness that you could actually see them having the reactions to the bizarre situations the author threw them into in the book. I really just don't think this was a well thought out play, personally. It didn't make it awful, it just was incomprehensible at times. This book was just one incredible convoluted, mal-grammared run-on sentence.

I really loved this book.

The character actor Kathleen Wilhoite's narration was exquisite, and truly made the different layers of this complicated (and morally ambiguous) story come alive. As of now she has only narrated Senple's two novels; she must narrate more audiobooks.

I admit I didn't feel ‘hooked' upon reading this book initially...  the pace felt slow, the characters slightly relatable yet quite foreign to understand and the unfamiliar way of presentation with shifting point of views; it wasn't easy. However, that seemed to change when I got a few pages in and I‘d gotten myself into this whirlwind of emotions. Characters were pretty realistically written, each having their positive and negatives drawn out. The storytelling has a very convincing style where I found myself changing perspectives and views about everything that went on. What I most liked about this book is how it managed to cover quite a few themes that are of essence in the world today. Loss of passion, mental health, out of character behaviour, maternal bond and this emotional detachment that can't really be explained. Miscommunications, misunderstandings, and a true sense of yin and yang that exists within every human. Sure, it's a work of fiction at the end with quite a few unbelievable twists and turns. But for those who like to delve in deep, there's more to this book than plain wittiness. Despicable characters also have their moments of redemption. 

Would've been two stars if it wasn't for the Antarctica part (too short) and the cute kid (lost amidst the rest of the characters-unlikeable, annoying and uninteresting).

Characters like these drive me up a wall. Stupid, useless, and witless.

It was fun, entertaining, satiric and wrapped up quickly and happily. A good summer read.

I loved this book. It compelled me from beginning to end, and I really, really enjoyed the ending (which is rare)!

[SPOILER, DON'T READ PAST THIS]
I found that the title wasn't just about her disappearing, but about how she wanted to find where she went as a creator and artist, and I loved that.

This was a great read and I had a lot of fun reading it! For this I alternated between the audiobook and the physical copy and both were great, but I think the audiobook better helps the reader understand the whole story because of all the exchange of messages between multiple characters. I am now excited to watch the movie that's coming out later this year! I hope it will be as fun and entertaining as the book!

3.5