Customer Reviews

After the Rice

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I read this book initially because I love chick lit that actually allows the characters to grow and learn from their experiences. However, I was sadly disappointed in this book! I'd give it no-stars if I could.

This entire book revolves around the potential pregnancy of a young married woman.
I say *Potential* because the heroine cannot decide whether to carry the pregnancy to term or not.

No. She is not poor. No. She is not a victim of rape or incest. No. She is not a victim of an abusive husband. This protagonist has all the advantages, an education, a decent living wage, yet she ultimately decides NOT to continue with the pregnancy. And she feels good about it. She feels good about terminating a pregnancy because it's inconvenient for her. She talks to others who have had abortions and now regret it, and is unmoved. She never wanted to have children. She will do as she likes.

The crazy thing is, that I believe in abortion rights under certain circumstances!! For fifteen-year-olds, for rape or incest victims, for women with abusive husbands! But for married women who are not poor, but just selfish??? I don't know, in those circumstances, maybe it's better for the poor baby to get aborted. Obviously, this person wouldn't be able to actually *parent*.

After all the discussion of her options, I expected this character to actually come to a decision and explain to us why she had done that. But instead, the author brutally cheats her readers by giving us a peek-a-boo NON-ending. The characters have a discussion, and say, Oh, yes, of course, we'll do THAT!

Without ever specifying what THAT is!!! If we really try to maintain our happy-ending fantasy, we could imagine that she has the baby. But, honestly, given the dialogue and history, we KNOW that she has decided to abort the baby.

And the author doesn't even have the courage to say so straight out. If you are someone who cares for babies, you will not like this book.

I rather enjoyed this book. Interestingly I didn't think the end was ambiguous at all. Apparently that's because I just assumed what their decision was, although now that I think about it I can see the ambiguity. I like the fact, though, that the story didn't get trite and trecaley. Having a family is an important decision and nobody should have children if they don't want them or do it because they feel familial pressure. The Karen story was a little over the top, but it was necessary to give a balance to the MC's decision.

After the Rice is French's latest novel, and although features her distinctive quirky characters, this book deals with some serious issues. Megan Ismore is twenty-nine, married for ten months, a "mature student" and finds out that she's pregnant. The problem? She and straight-laced husband, Matt, don't want children. Over the course of a week, Megan tries to get time alone with Matt to tell him her news. Unfortunately, two annoying house guests, a sister having a nervous breakdown, and babysitting a "pink tyrant" of a niece leave little time for the couple. Will they keep the baby or won't they? The difficult question at the heart of this book shows French is expanding as a writer, tackling more complicated situations through her characters.

It's about Megan Ismore, her husband Matt, and their nutty families. In the beginning Megan is freaking out because she thinks she might be pregnant. She's in her late 20's, hasn't completed college yet, and is in no way ready to start a family. Matt and her discussed having children in the past and agreed to wait on having kids.

What bothers me is how repetitive it is. Every other page shows Megan 'freaking out' and stressing about whether or not she could be pregnant. Sure, I can relate because I don't want children. That's the only reason why I wasn't completely bored with the book.

The parts with Megan's family were funny because they have this babbling and arguing thing going on that is so realistic. It reminded me of my family at get togethers.

Overall, a great book to read to pass the time.

What started out as a funny and interesting book took a real down turn when the author decided to promote her pro-choice agenda. It really bummed me out!

Just when I thought I'd found a great, funny read, it all turned awful. Wendy French has the ability to characterize family members and capture humor on paper. However, this book is bona fide chick lit, pure and simple, and chick lit is NOT the place to tackle the whole abortion issue. I felt like I was reading some sort of bi-polar adventure where everyone's interactions are funny and escapist, but the real plot of the story is dark, anxious, and offensive. I bought this book for a bridal shower gift -- Thank goodness I read it first. It'd be the last thing I'd want to give an otherwise happy bride.

WHAT A BOOK, IF YOU ARE SEARCHING FOR A FUNNY, LIGHT READ, YOU'VE FOUND IT. I WAS SO INTO THIS BOOK, I THINK I READ IT IN 2 DAYS.