Cover Image: Good Riddance

Good Riddance

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Good Riddance is how I can sum up this book - I started, then put it down several times before I finally read it just to get rid of it.
The narrative is just not that funny to make reading it seem anything but pointless. I couldn't figure out what it was really about for the longest time - there was no reason to care either way about what happened to the high school yearbook she threw out, so why try to force a story out of it?

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Good Riddance is one of those books that I can see being turned into a movie. Mae Whitman would play the part of Daphne, the MC. Rebel Wilson, the part of crazy-neighbor, Geneva. And Lucas Till would play the role of Jeremy? I don’t know, I’m still questioning the male lead role, but the ladies I could see playing these roles as plain as day, as if the parts were written for them. And seeing how (it seems) that author Elinor Lipman is such a big fan of the TV show Riverdale, I can see why she would want to write something that would maybe, eventually make it to the screen.

SIDE RANT: On the Riverdale note, I, too, am a fan of the show. I both liked and disliked the constant mention of the show and it’s characters, but for the life of me, I couldn’t place “Timmy” at all. So, I’ll admit, I did totally IMDB the show, looking for a “Timmy” which does not exist, but please, if you can figure out who “Timmy” is referring to, because it’s totally going to annoy me until I re-watch every single episode until I find him. Then, maybe, I’ll have Jeremy’s actor nailed down! END SIDE RANT.

However, that being said, I don’t think this novel should be made into a movie in the slightest. While I did find myself LOL-ing several times while reading, I often found myself either bored or annoyed. Daphne was too whiny (not a reflection of Mae Whitman, FYI), and I found the dynamic between Daphne and Geneva, and Daphne and Jeremy to be very out there (both of which usually make a good movie.)

On top of that, the story of “the yearbook” in question never really comes completely to fruition, and I felt that someone like Geneva never would have given up as easily (whether if that is to finish what she started or to just badger Daphne about it.)

Last note to make about this book is that while it is classified as a “romance,” I have a very hard time classifying it as such myself. “Humorous Literature?” Yes. But “Romance?” Definitely not. Yes, there is a love interest/relationship, several actually, but not in the “Literature Romance” sense. So if you’re looking for that, this is not your book. If you’re looking for something to LOL to, then this one will give your your chuckles.

 

Dani's Score out of 5: 📚📚📚🔖 (3.5/5)


*** A copy of this review will post to my blog (www.danithebookaholic.com) on Tuesday, March 19, 2019. ***

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This was light and sweet, but ultimately not for me. I couldn't relate or get into the main protagonist (Daphne) or why she was doing what she was doing (bumbling through life?). The plot never really progressed but the writing has some great wry humor and some actual laugh out loud moments. The best parts of the book are Daphne's interactions with her newly widowed father.

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This was a fun story about how children don't know their mothers at all. Very easy to read and engagng with good characters you can't help but like.

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I almost didn’t read this at all but was captivated by the NYT Book review last weekend. Family secrets, good writing, interesting adult chapter book like format, witty easy breezy heroine who stays with you after the book ends
and her fun supporting cast made this play like novel really a great break from the all pervasive psych thrillers...Thanks to the author and the
publicist for reminding me how much I love literary fiction..four plus stars especially since I’ll go back and check out other titles by Lipman

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This was a quick read and kind of fun if you could overlook the absolute implausibility of it, which is difficult. Daphne is just ridiculously... well, I'll say naive, but stupid seems to be more appropriate. She makes stupid life choices in love, and then she throws away a 50-year-old yearbook of her mother's after her mother's death, which comes back to bite her when crazy, unrealistic neighbor Geneva steals it out of the trash. Meanwhile she starts a friends-with-benefits relationship with the conveniently perfect guy across the hall and her wonderful dad decides to move to New York and they hang out together like BFFs of the same generation. I feel like Lipman could have dug a lot deeper into the meaning of her mom's yearbook notes and the repercussions of them being exposed rather than making it a mini-drama all about Daphne. It just all felt so silly. Despite that, I enjoyed it to an extent, and you know I just love giving 3 stars to everyone!

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Good Riddance is a light literary romance about Daphne, recently divorced almost thirty year old woman living in Manhattan who attempts to spark joy by cleaning out her apartment and finds that throwing out her mother's copy of a 1968 high school yearbook changes her life.

This book has a light hearted tone but it's improbability regarding biology and extremely dated everything else makes it a bust.

In 1968, Daphne's mother was a first year teacher who won over the students to the extent they dedicated the yearbook to her. She may have written snarky comments in it, but Daphne's mother faithfully kept up with the class of 1968 and when Daphne's pushy neighbor, Geneva, picks up the discarded yearbook, she pushes Daphne into attending the upcoming reunion.

At the reunion, Daphne finds out that her father isn't her father--bio dad was one of her mother's students. (They got involved right after he graduated, as if this makes it better)

Anyway. Despite it being 2019, which means Daphne was born in 1989. Which means her mother got pregnant with her in her mid40s, which means she had Daphne's sister Holly when she was closer to 50 than 40, which makes the biological odds of both pregnancies pretty small. So, biological stuff? Nope. Because how does a rising politician keep a decades long affair, not to mention a child, secret these days?

Then we get to the rest of the book. People still email. Like, to send non work messages! No. Sorry. And the Thanksgiving get together that mentions Bernie Madoff? The 1988 Olympics? Martha Stewart in her pre-Snoop days? Yikes. And then the one person at this Thanksgiving who mentions having taught Woody and Soon-Yi's children in preschool? Given that said kids haven't been in preschool for almost two decades, I felt like I was reading a draft of a novel set in the 1990s, with the Madoff aside thrown in to make it current for today. Which still misses today by over a decade.

Then we get to the one modern reference. Riverdale.

Jeremy, Daphne's across the hall neighbor and love interest is an extra on the show Riverdale. Except the show films in Canada. And not in Toronto, whuch would be really pushing Jeremy's location. Riverdale is filmed in Vancouver so Jeremy's decision (aided, in funding, by his wealthy parents who live in California) to live in Manhattan? Not even probable for an extra on a tv show that films on another coast. In another country.

I'm all for suspension of disbelief but setting aside the popular culture reference that's poorly researched (does Lipman not have a relative or assistant who could do that?), the rest of the extremely dated references (there's no Uber in this universe? people still use Craigslist? Bernie Madoff? the no longer small children of Woody Allen and Soon'Yi? Eeesh), the biological improbability of Daphne existing in the first place makes Good Riddance something that should have sparked joy about two decades ago. Now it reads like an old draft of a novel found lying around on a zip drive (there's a dated reference to fit this mess of a book) that was spellchecked and had Riverdale tossed in for...reasons? (To be trendy? That was two seasons of Riverdale ago.)

As I said before, Eeesh.

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Elnor Lipman has been a favorite author of mine for many years, but this book didn't hit the mark for me. Perhaps because it's being billed as a romantic comedy. There is a romance in the book-and there is a situation that could be considered comedic but the dialogue is so stilted that it was hard for me to enjoy any aspects of the story. I found the main character unlikeable and wished she could develop just a modicum of restraint. I also dislike how Lipman treats the subject of paternity and infidelity. Her way of writing these topics is so breezy it just doesn't ring true for me.

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Daphne’s mom leaves her an old high school yearbook when she passes. It isn’t just any old yearbook, it is from the first year that her mom started teaching at the local high school. Her mom went back to the class of 69’s every single year and every year, she would add little connotations to the names of the students. Daphne, never understanding her mom’s need to do this, tosses the book into the recycling in her building. A neighbor picks it up and this begins a story filled with laughter, secrets, and a lot of fun.

This is really a delightfully fun read. I was laughing throughout the whole thing. It wasn’t heavy, even as the secrets were revealed, and I really enjoyed that. Daphne is a great character. For what she has gone through, even in her fanatical way of thinking, she really comes out on top. All the characters are great. I loved her interactions with all of them, including the yearbook thief Geneva. With all the heaviness in this crazy world right now, this was the perfect remedy.

Thanks to Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for a copy of this book.

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This was my first Elinor Lipman book and i can say it won't be the last. I really like her writing. Good Riddance was a self journey book.. I really liked the main character - Daphne - which is important for if i am reading this genre. I enjoyed reading this cute story. Thank you for this early copy.

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After reading a few books in a row that were on the heavier/more serious side I was so excited to dive into Lipman's latest book. Good Riddance was the perfect mix of light and fun with great characters. I really enjoyed Daphne's relationship with her dad and it was fun to watch their relationship expand as he moved to NYC. Geneva and Jeremy were also great characters and I loved their apartment as a setting. I never quite bought into the romantic relationship between Daphne and Jeremy and I felt like Geneva's character/storyline seemed to suddenly drop before the end of the novel, making her feel a bit forgotten after being such a big part of the beginning of the book. Overall it wasn't my favorite book I've read by Elinor Lipman, but it was still enjoyable and I can't wait to keep remind through her backlist.

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This was such a fun read! I've enjoyed Elinor Lipman's past books, and this was very much in her wheelhouse. Also enjoyed the understated romance between Daphne and Jeremy. One thing I will note, though, is that Daphne read a little older than her age (which I think was supposed to be around 30 or early 30s). She just didn't feel believably 30ish to me. Aging her up a few years would have made some of her speech and cultural references more believable.

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Daphne has just inherited her mother's yearbook from the class of 1968 at Pickering High School in New Hampshire. That year her mother was not only the English teacher, but also the yearbook advisor. Mrs. Maritch has gone to every reunion and each year she has added notations to the yearbook to all of the students. Daphne has no need or room for the yearbook in her small New York City apartment, so she puts it in the recycling. A neighbor who is also a budding documentarian finds the yearbook, and is determined to make a movie with her findings. When Daphne finds out a dark secret at the 50th reunion they attend, she will stop at nothing to make sure the yearbook is not made public. With family secrets around each corner, Daphne will try her best to keep her mother's legacy in tact and her father's heart from being broken.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I remember the thrill of getting my yearbook from middle school all through high school and having all of my friends sign it. I don't think that I ever had or even wanted any of my teachers to sign it though. And I've been to one or two of my reunions and I surely didn't go back and makes notes on what everyone is up to now.

This was a quirky story that had quite a few different elements in it. A little bit of romance, some mystery, and an annoying neighbor. Daphne is newly divorced and trying to find her way in New York City. Her apartment is small and there isn't any room for much more than her. She is going to school to be a chocolatier, but that's not really working out. She tries going back to teaching at Montessori school which she did before she was married. But with the contents of the yearbook and rumors about her mother maybe reaching the public Daphne's plate seems to be overflowing. Can she keep her mom's legacy alive and keep herself from going crazy at the same time?

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Adorable cover!!!This was an adorable comedy about finding ones self in unexpected ways. Daphne’s character is very likable and I enjoyed learning about June and all of her antics. This book was a hidden gem and I feel would be loved across the generations. Daphne learned more about herself by taking June’s life journey through the yearbook.
This was a silly and serious book all in one and I really enjoyed it.

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I love Elinor Lipman but I feel that not enough readers are aware of her wonderful, engaging novels. In Good Riddance, Daphne Maritch is grieving the recent loss of her mother and coping with the end of a very brief marriage. While decluttering her apartment she finds the one thing her mother left her in her will–an old high school year book from 1968. In 1968, Daphne’s mother was a young English teacher who was the yearbook’s faculty adviser but she seems to have gone above and beyond her professional responsibilities. The yearbook is filled with notes about the students’ lives gathered at 50 years of high school reunions. Daphne impulsively throws the book into the communal garbage at her apartment. When she changes her mind, she discovers the book has been claimed by a neighbour, who is determined to turn the book into a podcast and documentary. After a brief debate about the rightful ownership of the book, Daphne finds herself working with the eccentric Geneva on her ambitious projects.

While on this journey into the past, Daphne finds a new love and learns more about about her mother and herself.

It’s not my favourite of Lipman’s novels but it’s a good read full of fun, appealing characters. Readers who enjoy reading about winning characters who learn more about themselves through the book–usually with a bit of romance–will want to check her out.

Will appeal to fans of Elizabeth Berg, Billie Letts and Katherine Center, among others.

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3.5 stars. Very cute story about love in many forms, a yearbook from the past, a weird neighbor and a good one, dating while young and old and while married, among other things. Sounds like this book has it all. Light hearted and a nice break from heavier stories, it makes a good beach read or escape.

Thank you NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest opinion.

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Could not get into this book at all. The characters were not relatable and the story didn’t hold my attention. However, the writing was well done. DNF

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A mother’s death- and the rediscovery of her discarded high school yearbook- takes her daughter on an unbelievable adventure to find out just why her mother attended every high school reunion.

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No one writes quite like Elinor Lipman. She is a master at writing intelligent, witty books. There's always a cast of characters who will capture your heart. Lipman's use of language just sucks me in and wraps me up.

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Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this 3.5 🌟 story that was a lot of fun to read. A very creative read. A main character with a bit of sass. A great father daughter relationship and a cute budding romance.

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