This is one of those books that is an acquired taste. It really missed the mark for me, but other women in my book club saw a sort of raw beauty in it.
The Most Fun We Ever Had tells the story of Marilyn and David Sorenson and their four adult daughters, each with their own life and accompanying problems. The story alternates between narrators and timelines to describe the different obstacles in life and love that each daughter experiences and overcomes. From the widowed oldest sister to the academically subpar youngest, the family members drudge up issues from the past while grappling with the recent reappearance of one sister’s son, given up for adoption in secret many years prior.
The pros: Claire Lombardo’s writing style is easy to read and follow. Had this book not been so long, I wouldn’t have had any issues sitting and reading multiple chapters at a time. Her ability to create different voice’s for each character is also really nice and makes the alternating-narrators easier to follow.
I enjoyed the realistic dialogue of this book as well. Each sister has experienced her own version of trauma, and the emotions and conversations they have about those traumas are super relatable and easy with which to connect. Lombardo nailed the personalities of both the oldest and youngest daughter specifically. I think this was, in part, because of the raw nature of the book: Lombardo did not sugarcoat reality in The Most Fun We Ever Had and wasted no time trying to send a specific message or address a specific social expectation. Rather, the book is fairly deep and true to what family drama really looks like.
The cons: This one was just boring to me. There didn’t seem to be much of an actual plot, in the standard sense, and that made it hard for me to get through the whole thing. In fact, I didn’t. I don’t normally give up on a book, but this one felt longer than it needed to be for the lack of events that happened throughout the story, so I had to close this one at the 400 page mark. The pace is really slow, which can be a turnoff for readers who like to blow through books quickly or who don’t have time to sit on details for chapters on end.
I’ll be honest though- my biggest issue with the story was a personal preference: There is no trigger warning for child loss and stillbirth at the beginning of the book, so I was caught off guard and forced to step back from this one, on a personal level.
In general, the book is fine, and the consensus amongst my book club was that the story would’ve been great if it hadn’t been dragged out as long as it was. We did enjoy the unexpected revelation toward the end of the book, not enough to be considered a twist ending but still satisfying for the second sister’s storyline.
My rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Book Club rating: 2.83 out of 5 stars
Click the link below to purchase The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo using my amazon affiliate link.
Danielle Says... 