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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Spirited dialogue keeps story from becoming maudlin, May 15, 2006
This review is from: After the Rice (Paperback)
Megan and Matt have been married for ten months. As she is grappling with a possible pregnancy, conflicting family events from each set of in-laws, and her upcoming mid-terns, the two are suddenly inundated with houseguests from Hell.
Matt's crass uncle cannot keep a job or a wife. And now he is living in the basement. Megan's younger sister Andrea who lives off her parents but has her own place has been evicted and is taking up residence on their couch. And the cherry on top is Megan's 6-month old niece, aptly nicknamed "the pink tyrant" who is staying with them while her older and thought to be perfect sister Karen is recuperating from a car accident. With family like this, you'd want to disconnect your doorbell and sign up for call waiting!
As Megan finally takes a home pregnancy test and discovers the results, her and Matt's long agreed upon decision not to have children is put to the test. As Megan waffles back and forth over her decision, the ultimate decision of the two is left to the reader's own inference, which can be construed as a bit of a cop out.
The saving grace is Author French's sardonic humor and wry observations interspersed throughout the story and some pretty realistic relationships (and interesting converstaion) among Megan's extended family.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good, April 9, 2006
This review is from: After the Rice (Paperback)
I had a difficult type deciding whether to rate this book as a 3 star or 4 star. I am a HUGE fan of Canadian author Wendy French -as I am also Canadian, I feel its important to recognize our Canadian authors.
I have thoroughly enjoyed the last two books and After the Rice was good. The story of a young couple, having to face one issue after the next - within a year of their marriage was both sensitive and funny at some spots.
However, it felt to me as though the author decided to tackle a somewhat sensitive matter, through the means of chick lit, which is fine - but it felt that towards the end, Wendy French coped out.
Its difficult to give a review of this book without giving away the ending - so I have to be a little cryptic but while the story itself was funny (lots of issues with in-laws) the core storyline, while very interesting felt unresolved to me - like the author did not have the guts to finish her book. She leaves it up to the reader to "interpret" the cryptic final chapter.
Shame on you Wendy. If you are going down this route, then take a firm stand - whichever side you decide to go on - it would have been fine either way - but this cryptic ending just left me hanging.
As for the rest of the book, it was good. As mentioned, the other storylines were funny (mostly) although French does throw in another twist here. I do enjoy the down to earth writing style and the book is not overly long. The only other issue I had was that I did not particularly like our main character and she did not really feel all that fleshed out to me.
Still, it was a fun read and I would recommend it. But don't expect to get a nice tight ending.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good attempt..., November 7, 2006
This review is from: After the Rice (Paperback)
I have enjoyed Wendy French's past books, and I was delighted to find "After the Rice". As always, it's a fun read, if a little unbelievable what with the families-in-law dynamics. In a way, it felt like two different stories were vying for space....a novel about newlyweds and how they deal with their families, and a novel about making adult decisions.
However, I was pleased with the way Ms. French handled such a sensitive subject. The protagonist and her husband thought they knew what they did and did not want out of life, yet they reach a crossroads where they have to question everything they thought they knew. Just because two adults are married does not mean that they have to accept a pregnancy they didn't want in the first place.
On the other hand, I was disappointed in the way she handled the older sister's *secret*. Good grief--it's such a cliche to say that every girl who has an abortion when she's young is haunted by it for the rest of her life.
The characters could have been fleshed out better, in my opinion...but I'm glad I read it and I look forward to the next WF novel.
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