Un libro ben scritto che si legge piacevolmente.
È la vicenda di Rosie che vive da circa 15 anni una storia ormai consolidata con Jonathan, fino a quando una telefonata quasi insignificante, ricevuta in una tranquilla mattinata, darà il via a quello che sarà il cambiamento totale delle loro vite.
Un racconto in punta di penna, dove tutto avviene gradualmente senza particolari sconvolgimenti, ma che pian piano porterà a rivedere completamente il modo di vivere dei singoli personaggi e le loro scelte di vita. ( )

*I've received an ARC of this in exchange of a honest review*

El Extraño Gato del Cuento


Este libro lo leí casi al final del 2013, Noviembre o Diciembre, no recuerdo bien. Es de esos libros que debes pensar bien que poner, porque tiene muchos matices del cual hablar, este libro particularmente me hizo sentir mucho, pero curiosamente no se convirtió en mi favorito.

Para empezar cuando vi la portada pensé que era un libro juvenil muy sencillo, además el título es muy curioso The Opposite of Maybe (Lo opuesto de quizás, según mi traducción principiante), la verdad es que no es un libro juvenil fácil para pasar una tarde, todo lo contrario. La escritora usa muy pocos diálogos en el libro, algo que por lo general hace que yo deje un libro, porque tiendo aburrirme, pero los diálogos son tan precisos y la narración es muy buena también. Si les soy sincera, no recuerdo mucho del libro, son solo las sensaciones que recuerdo al leer de las que les estoy hablando.

Lo que me gustó del libro es como los personajes van madurando, como no todo es blanco o negro, o que quizá queda en una novela romántica más, las relaciones se desarrollan de manera lenta e incluso podría decirse de forma bastante agria.

The Opposite fo Maybe al final pierde encanto gracias a lo mismo que me iba gustando al principio, los párrafos demasiado largos y la escasez de diálogos, se volvió demasiado tedioso seguir conectándome con la historia.

Maddie Dawnson reto a mis sentimientos con este libro, muchas de las cosas que suceden en sus páginas son del tipo por el cuál termino renegando, pero la manera de llevarlo, a un ritmo creíble hizo que el libro me gustara.


Reseña Completa: El Extraño Gato del Cuento

Quería darle cinco estrellas, porque el libro es muy bueno, pero, los últimos capítulos son un poco pesados.
( )

The Opposite of Maybe is an interesting story not only about a woman who has mid-life crisis, but it also is a story about the choices we make in our life and how those choices affect us.

First of all, why did it take FIFTEEN YEARS of being in a relationship with Jonathan to realize that they weren’t a good match?!!! I almost yelled at the book, and thought “seriously Rosie?!” There were so many red flags in their relationship, some including:

Jonathan states that they should postpone our wedding, (yes, that’s right a wedding), so I can meet up with this guy on the west coast and discuss business about tea cups.
Rosie tells him she’s pregnant, and Jonathan responds that he doesn’t want to be a part of “this”, but then changes his mind when she’s more than halfway through the pregnancy, that he wants to be involved.
Jonathan decides at the last-minute, he needs money for the baby, but is slightly burdened that he has to sell his precious National Geographic magazine collection (oh boo hoo Jonathan)
Now Rosie, doesn’t exactly have a clean slate either, but there are far more strikes against Jonathan (at least in my opinion)

I strongly wanted Rosie to end up with Tony a quarter way into reading the novel despite his own personal dramas going on in his life. But at this point, every character is dealing with some major life obstacle that they are trying to break though and workout on their on. I admire Tony, for staying so optimistic and even though he was going through his own drama he went out his way to help Soapie and Rosie.

Rosie does grow throughout the novel, especially as she comes to a realization that she hasn’t really lived her own life and just has been following others and doing what they want. She learns that she needs to stop holding back her feelings, speak her mind, and live life to the fullest.

Despite all my earlier ranting, I loved this story and the characters (I was just mad that they were acting stupid). Especially the endearing relationship between Rosie and her grandmother, Soapie, who is so full of life. Though they butt heads, they look out for each other. ( )

Sometimes life just seems to stagnate. Rose and Jonathan just are, but are they truly happy? There seems to be a lot of little things that show that they might not be perfect for each other. But they have been together so long, and they are happy.

Jonathan is obsessed with tea-cups..yes, I said that. That is all there is in his head. She deserves more.

Rose is no better, cos they both gave up on what they really wanted long ago. She used to write poetry, he made pottery. They are that childless couple that is happy to be just the two of them. But what would the book be without complications?

Jonathan moves across country, Rose moves in with her grandma. Someone needs to take care of Soapie, but then there is Tony who lives there too and does take care of her. I liked Tony, he was a good friend to Rose. Because then life gets more complicated when she finds herself pregnant at 44. What do do then?

It's about Rose coming to terms with her pregnancy. Soapie trying to say that Rose should get more out of life. And slowly Rose might or might not realize what she wants.

A nice book, it had this kind of lazy Sunday night vibe (ok no one know what that means, but it was nice and relaxed.) And I am glad how it all turned out in the end. ( )

Full Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from Blogging for Books, in exchange for an honest review.

My Thoughts: Sometimes you read a book’s description and expect one thing and when it ends up being something else, you’re either happily surprised of very disappointed. The Opposite of Maybe fell into the latter category for me. That may be a tad harsh; it wasn’t a disappointment per say.

Rose is an interesting character, but I had a hard time connecting to her. She’s 44, been with a guy for years and never gotten married. They don’t have kids or what I’d call conventional jobs. And there is nothing wrong with any of that. Technically, I can relate to everything except her age, but I just couldn’t connect with her character. Her boyfriend, Jonathan, had moments when I understood where he was coming from. Ultimately, I felt like he was a selfish jerk. It pissed me off to no end when he was characterized as an introvert. What?! Just because someone is an introvert, it doesn’t mean they’re awkward, selfish, obsessive, or weird.

The Opposite of Maybe was a DNF (did not finish) for me. There wasn’t anything bad or offensive about it. I was just bored. Sometimes books mean more to you when you’re in certain stages of life. I think this is one of those times. I’ll probably go back and read The Opposite of Maybe when I’m in my 30s or 40s because it is a well-written book. It’s just hard to relate or wrap my head around Rosie’s point of view on her life because I’m in my 20s and most of her issues seem like they’re manageable. I don’t want to say they’re no big deal because having a baby is a big deal no matter your age.

The plot was a bit slow-moving, but it’s realistic fiction about life and pregnancy. You can’t exactly expect it to move at the same pace as an action/adventure/fantasy book. Actually, this was where I had my issues with The Opposite of Maybe. Since I had no significant problems with the characters (other than a lack of connection), the plot was where I lost interest. I’m not in the marriage and babies mindset yet and I don’t think it’s shocking that I would get a little bored reading about it.

In the end, The Opposite of Maybe just wasn’t for me at this stage of my life. I want to stress that it is not a bad book though. I would more than likely recommend it to some of the women I know over the age of 30 (not to be sexist or an ageist).

For more reviews, check out http://reviewsinapinch.com/ today! ( )