A great story about family dynamics and expectations, the abrupt ending disarmed me - I was not ready to say goodbye to the Weird Sisters. ( )

Three daughters of a Shakespeare professor come back home as adults when their mother is diagnosed with breast cancer. Living in the small Ohio college town and under the same roof again after so many years isn't not difficult, and all of their secrets start leaking out.

From the start I suspected that the imaginary small Ohio town was based on Gambier (home of Kenyon College), and lo, I was (half) right! The author has been quoted as saying that she based the town and the college within it on a mix of Kenyon and Oberlin! That made the book extra-fun for me, but it's also just a great read. The relationships between the sisters ring true, as do each of their own struggles and triumphs. The myriad nods to Shakespeare's plays throughout are a fantastic touch, too. Definitely recommended. ( )

An excellent character driven book. Three sisters challenged by the expectations of birth order; the responsible, over-achieving eldest, the forgotten and lost middle child, and the baby of the family with few responsibilities or expectations. An enjoyable read. ( )

I think I enjoyed this book. I read it on the strength of a quote I found on Pinterest

“She remembered one of her boyfriends asking, offhandedly, how many books she read in a year. "A few hundred," she said.
"How do you have the time?" he asked, gobsmacked.
She narrowed her eyes and considered the array of potential answers in front of her. Because I don't spend hours flipping through cable complaining there's nothing on? Because my entire Sunday is not eaten up with pre-game, in-game, and post-game talking heads? Because I do not spend every night drinking overpriced beer and engaging in dick-swinging contests with the other financirati? Because when I am waiting in line, at the gym, on the train, eating lunch, I am not complaining about the wait/staring into space/admiring myself in reflective surfaces? I am reading!
"I don't know," she said, shrugging.”

It sounded so like me I figured I had better give it a shot (happily I have found myself a boyfriend who would never ask me this question).

I didn't exactly find the characters engaging. Rose irritated me for her controlling nature, Beatrice annoyed me because she allowed her very pretty name to be reduced to "Bean" (ugh, I hate shortened names, ones that make no sense even less) and Cordelia, well I guess she just reminded me of myself just a little too much. In fact they probably all did in some ways.

As for the actual reading of it, I had to put it down halfway through. I got bored. I kept waiting for each sister to reveal her secret and act like a proper sister to the other two, but it never seemed like it would happen even though they had countless chances to. When I finally picked it back up again I was happy to discover that "Bean" (ugh!!!) had finally cracked and divulged all. Maybe it's because I'm an only child with only an adopted best friend sister to call my own that I could not understand these women's relationship.

The writing was quite good, not as humorous as I would have liked but the sprinkling of Shakespearean quotes was nice. Good for a holiday read, but if it was the only book I had with me I would have been rather annoyed. ( )

not a bookclub book, but it was very good ( )