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on June 13, 2016
This story revolves around a dysfunctional family of brothers & sisters who have cashed in their inheritance (The nest) before it has actually been distributed. All of their dreams and desires come to a screeching halt, when the nest is quickly distributed to one of the family members who is involved in a Motor Vehicle accident and needs the funds to keep the incident hush hush.
The rest of the family is aghast that their fortune could given away so wrecklessly. The plot has greed, sex, narcissism, lies, and a realization of what is really important in life. An easy read and a count your blessings kind of message.
Some of the plot is predictable. A good read by the pool this summer.
The rest of the family is aghast that their fortune could given away so wrecklessly. The plot has greed, sex, narcissism, lies, and a realization of what is really important in life. An easy read and a count your blessings kind of message.
Some of the plot is predictable. A good read by the pool this summer.
on May 17, 2016
I stuck with this book till the end reading it slowly sometimes skipping a day or two. With that in mind, I had a hard time remembering which character was who. There are certainly many of them. However, I'm glad I stuck with it till the end because there was good character development and the last chapter was a real whirlwind of information, stretching decades into a few pages. It was almost as if there could have been another 300 pages but the author decided to end it quickly. Interesting!
on June 5, 2016
Stephanie, The literary agent says to the writer, Bea, "I can sell this." So must have Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney's agent said to her. It has all the formulaic ingredients of a best seller. Rich New Yorkers, involved in various machinations and plenty of sex. But unfortunately these characters are mostly not likeable, and I don't just mean the psychopathic older brother. Also they are not interesting because they all conform too much to type: the flaky writer, uptight gay antique dealer, etc. Worse, the peripheral characters (the only non white anglo Saxon Protestants) are all stereotyped: the tough Italian pizza maker, the wise bossy Black woman, though she's only 17, the Irishman who like to drink, the sexy Mexican girl with a heart of gold. You get the picture. A Polish character, who was a successful writer, was raked over the coals for having dared to give her daughter a "Mayflower" name. And of course all these people, who think they are poor, but are NOT, all end up happily ever after in the end. No loose end is not tied up. Even the psychopath seems to get a happy ending. The one exception was the less shallow more interesting story of the one sibling, Melody and her two daughters. Had Sweeney written a more penetrating novel about her, the neglect of her alcoholic mother, and her subsequent need to smother her daughters, we might have had a better novel. Having said this, it is a good beach read, and the pages turn easily. I'm just disappointed that commercialism trumped literary artfulness. This is why I have to keep reading English writers, and why I so lament the passing of the great Anita Brookner.
on June 5, 2016
I rarely read fiction. I have a preference for factual history and biography. But I happened to hear about this book while listening to "Fresh Air" on NPR. The story is a look into the dysfunctional family life and how it all impacts the lives of the people of this family. It was a fun read........
... I purchased "The Nest" and looked forward to a wonderful read. Did not one of the many editors/publishing ...
on June 4, 2016
After reading glowing reviews I purchased "The Nest" and looked forward to a wonderful read. Did not one of the many editors/publishing mavens/writer friends thanked by the author not see the plot was one big jumbled mess? The characters were straight out of central casting and the story line seemed paint-by-numbers drawn. Too many subplots, not one truly compelling character. Yikes. The social commentary/asides by the author got old really quick. One reviewer mentioned expecting to find the kitchen sink thrown in--so did I. I was laughing out loud at the ending--and not because the author evoked humor, but because the whole read was ludicrous and a waste of time. I wish I borrowed the novel from the library rather than purchasing it. Not something I'd read a second time! Once as more than enough.
on May 13, 2017
I gave up halfway through. While the prose is good, the plot wanders and I keep wondering where the author is headed. The central "conflict" is mundane, the characters unlikeable and not even interesting, and there are too many subplots to make this anything other than messy.
on April 14, 2016
The first half of this book left me feeling vaguely depressed and anxious. I was having a hard time finding anything to like about ANY of the characters, and was seriously debating whether to even finish reading, but I stuck with it (mostly due to all the buzz surrounding it, which gave me hope that it would turn around). Then right as I hit the halfway mark, the story picked up and I flew threw the rest of the book. It was such a gratifying and well executed story, and all the (mildly depressing) groundwork laid in the beginning made the story that much richer in the end. It ended in a way I hadn't expected, but just felt so right, and I honestly can't say enough about how much I enjoyed this book.
on May 4, 2017
Very wordy, everything including rhe kitchen sink was thrown in to the story. There were to many characters that played no role in the story.The ending was written as though it was rushed .It is about a dysfunctional family that does dysfunctional things. Do not recommend.
on May 11, 2017
Complicated story of a dysfunctional family. I couldn't get in to it at first bc the characters were so weird, but the pace picked up and I got caught up in the story. From a literary standpoint, this book is excellently written with complicated and well rounded characters. The story takes place in New York City, which may as well be a foreign country for me, so I guess you could say that the setting was unique from my stand point. Recommended, it you don't already need a psychiatrist.
