I wanted to like this book but the further I got into the more depressing and non-redemptive it felt. I like a book to be an escape even when dark and this just felt like a drowning.

4.5, rounded up.

One would have thought that after the 13 stories comprising Strout's Pulitzer-winning Olive Kitteridge that there was nothing more that it was possible to say about the eponymous character. But now Strout comes along with 13 additional stories, and, by Godfrey, she's back in all her glorious cantankerousness, like an old friend. Older, gentler, and perhaps wiser, we now follow Olive into her twilight years, and it's a journey well worth taking. Many of the characters from Olive 1 reappear, and we find out what happens with Olive's budding relationship with Jack and beyond. Even Amy and Isabelle from Strout's first novel make an appearance. The only thing that could be better is if Frances McDormand and the rest of the people who made the outstanding miniseries from the first book decided they should come back and do the same for the sequel!

My sincere gratitude to Netgalley and Random House for providing me with an ARC in exchange for this honest review.

This is the story about how one woman weaves through lives of her small town in Maine. Olive is blunt and bold and this story is immensely compelling. It follows Olive as she ages into her later years. As a young woman, I found the portrait of aging to be both comforting and distressing. It made me think of my own life and my family, how we are perceived by others and what it feels like to age and to watch those we love age. The pace of the book is slow and comfortable, not an intense read but a robust one. I recommend for fans of contemporary fiction, dysfunctional families, and connected short stories.

Elizabeth Strout has done it again! Even if you didn't read the first "Olive" book, you will still enjoy this one. The cast of characters' lives, ordinary as they may be, come alive in these pages. The writing is sparse and each word serves to convey the sadness and emotions of each one.
What especially struck me was the realistic and universal description of the last section of the book when Olive enters a senior citizen facility and the realization that life has entered a dark and, last phase. The brilliance of the prose captures that time of life so well.

Over the course of two books Elizabeth Stroud has shared the life of this flinty Maine school teacher, Olive Kitteridge. Stroud has an amazing eye for detail and ear for dialogue. She has created a world in which characters come and go, all in some way touched by Kitteridge. These interwoven stories form the chapters of her books. In some Olive has the major role. In others she barely appears, but plays a supporting part offstage. Major life events, like death or marriage are often shared only after the fact. The result is an emphasis on how Olive deals with these events. A few of the chapters are breathtakingly beautiful, filled with hope and gratitude, but the majority leave the reader with a sense of opportunities missed and connections lost. Socrates said the unexamined life is not worth living. Stroud has shone a light on Olive’s life in a series of vignettes large and small. We begin to understand why she lives Life the way she does. The sadness is that Olive herself has so little self awareness. As we reach the end of her life and of this series, I am left with such a sense of quiet inevitable despair, I can only mourn for this woman trapped by her own limitations.

It was a wonderful few hours that I had reading and reacquainting myself with the devastatingly honest character of Olive Kitteredge. Here again, she re-engages with a variety of characters who share with her their own experiences in life. Olive surprises herself with the paths that open up to her in her later years. As endearing ( in her own peculiar way) as she is honest this is another marvelous collection from Elizabeth Strout.

If you love Elizabeth Strout (and who doesn't?), you'll love this next book about Olive. A perfect mix of sad, funny, warm and real.

Olive is an enjoyable and compelling character study, and Elizabeth Strout is, of course, a wordsmithing genius who often cuts right to the heart of what you wish you knew how to say. If a book can make me think, "there's a thought I never believed I would see in someone else's words," it's hooked me entirely. I had that moment again and again during Olive, Again. Great choice, Oprah, and thank you Ms. Strout for a sharp and revelatory vignette of the demands and various troubles that plague us all in one way or another.

Olive Kitteridge is back, and while she is as cantankerous as ever, she has grown - and continues to grow - by leaps and bounds as she slips over into old age. I adored Olive in her first book, and she held a special place in my heart this time as well. So many aspects of this novel resonated with me, brought me to tears - and nearly to my knees - with shared grief at times - while one page later, I was chuckling at Elizabeth Strout’s wry humor as she breathed yet more life into the obstreperous and wickedly bright Olive. I wanted to hug this book to me for hours, so sorry was I to let it go as it ended.

Much thanks to NetGalley and Random House for an advanced copy for review.

It was absolutely lovely to get caught up in Olive Kitteridge's thoughts again. Again, we focus on Olive in particular, but also move through the lives of various people from Crosby, Maine, who have been impacted by Olive in varying degrees. She is not a very likeable woman: outspoken, extremely nervous and stuck in her ways, and she thinks that she knows and understands others despite not even knowing and understanding herself. Somehow, I still loved to spend time with her again and to experience these little glimpses of ordinary human lives. Elizabeth Strout's writing is, as always, lovely, incisive, and funny.

Thanks to the author, NetGalley, and Random House for an opportunity to read an advance copy.

I received Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout as an ARC from NetGalley. This novel is the sequel to Olive Kitteridge which I've also read. Olive Kitteridge tells 13 stories of residents in Crosby, Maine who are tied together by Olive. In Olive, Again Elizabeth Strout continues to tell stories of the residents who are all part of Olive's life. Olive is not always a likable character but she is a very interesting character who is very well written. Strout is a master at writing about the intricacies of life using interesting characters. This book kept me engrossed throughout the novel & I highly recommend it. I've also read My Name is Lucy Barton which I enjoyed as well. Strout's books are for people who enjoy reading about others who are not cookie-cutter characters.

Thank you to Random House & NetGalley for the digital copy in exchange for an honest review!

*Any quote(s) used in the review are from the finished copy.*

Trigger Warnings: Homophobia, suicide, miscarriage, cheating, physical abuse, cancer, and possible pedophilia (the situation involved an older man, a young girl, and nudity.)

Story | Olive Kitteridge is at it again with her famous “Oh, Godfrey” and uneasiness around children. You learn about her hostility toward baby showers. That’s just a few things I love about Olive Kitteridge, her real and raw thought processes. She doesn’t always let it slip out of her mouth, but I’m glad we get to explore her inner thoughts and emotions toward certain situations. I find myself relating and agreeing with her the majority of the time.

Olive, Again focuses a lot on Olive’s relationship with Jack Kennison. It’s a very rocky relationship, but it’s not surprising considering the type of person Olive is. She wasn’t very nice to Henry either.

The individual storylines in this are fervent and disheartening, but I think the first book kept me more entertained. Olive, Again just kept me in a continuous state of heartbreak. I usually give high ratings to books that can get that kind of emotion out of me, but this just became too much. It just didn’t have the same vibe as the last book.

There is a lot of insight into Olive’s feelings on different topics—a ton of back and forth with herself. As she gets older, she digs deeper into her own conscience—her sad, depressing, suffering conscience.

“She realized it was as though she had—all her life—four big wheels beneath her, without even knowing it, of course, and now they were, all four of them, wobbling and about to come off. She did not know who she was, or what would happen to her.”

This book mainly focuses on the characters, so there isn’t a lot to talk about when it comes to the story. I will admit that it was quite nice to be back in Crosby, Maine.

Characters | There is a whole slew of new characters mixed in with some oldies.

Christopher, Olive’s son, visits her with his wife, Annabelle, and three kids. Unfortunately, tensions become very high. Chris never gives his mother the time of day. He doesn’t accept Olive for who she is. All she wants is to be present in his life, but it’s almost impossible that they all get along.

“But she saw behind her closed eyes the house, and inside her was a shiver that went through her bones. The house where she had raised her son—never, ever realizing that she herself had been raising a motherless child, now a long, long way from home.”

Kayley Callaghan – Eighth grader, father died two years ago, and cleaned house for Mrs. Ringrose. While there she would unbutton her blouse for Mr. Ringrose and he would give her cash in return. She didn’t feel like she could tell anyone about it. She enjoyed it at first, but it all abruptly came to end when Mrs. Ringrose said she didn’t need her anymore.
This short story surprised me and depressed me. I honestly didn’t expect this from the author. It was interesting to see Kayley’s thoughts on everything as an eighth grader. Way too young to be going through this. It made me sick.

Cindy Coombs – Used to work as a librarian at the local library, but now she has cancer. Olive talks to her about her feelings about death.

“You know, Cindy, if you should be dying, if you do die, the truth is—we’re all just a few steps behind you. Twenty minutes behind you, and that’s the truth.”

You learn that Olive—tough, fearless, grumpy Olive—is also afraid to die.

You definitely don’t have to read the first book to learn about these characters.

“I do not have a clue who I have been. Truthfully, I do not understand a thing.”

Writing | Strout’s writing is still wonderful. She is able to make it flow so well and it’s all just a bunch of short stories. My plan is to read everything by this author. I have completed three novels by her so far, and whether I found this one all that interesting or not, I keep thinking about her writing style. There is something about it that I love so much. The simplicity of the sentence structure while discussing such melancholic topics. It’s a true talent that not a lot of people can manage.

Overall | Would I recommend it? Yeah! Just because I wasn’t totally fond of it doesn’t mean you won’t absolutely love it. It’s worth loving. Strout does preforms some incredible magic with her Olive Kitteridge duology. So many characters and emotions. You’ll fly through them. I’m almost sad there isn’t another one. You don’t often find yourself reading a book with such a raw character who is still fighting with themselves on the inside. Go pick it up! You can blame it on how beautiful the cover is.

Great news for Olive Kitteridge fans — author Elizabeth Strout has published a sequel and it is fantastic. Olive, Again is written in Strout’s signature style of introducing new characters in each chapter so that the book feels like connected short stories rather than a novel.

The sequel begins with Olive mourning the death of her husband and struggling to maintain a relationship with her son Christopher and her grandchildren.

Actually – and this is maybe the one weak point in the book – it opens with a character, Jack Kennison, who isn’t terribly sympathetic, based on his attitudes towards his gay daughter and recently deceased wife. To begin this book with a character who barely knows Olive kind of threw me. But I’m glad I kept reading. The second chapter begins with “Two days earlier, Olive Kitteridge had delivered a baby” and from there on I couldn’t put it down. Strout dives right in with what is absolutely the best description of a baby shower I’ve read.

I have yet to read a book by Elizabeth Strout that didn’t have me highlighting passages all over the place. This one was no exception.

It was as though waves swung her up and then down, tossing her high – high – and then the darkness came from below and she felt terror and struggled. Because she saw that her life – her life, what a silly foolish notion, her life – that her life was different, might possibly be very different or might not be different at all, and both ideas were unspeakably awful to her, except for when the waves took her high and she felt such gladness, but it did not last long, and she was down again, deep under the waves, and it was like that – back and forth, up and down, she was exhausted and could not sleep.

What is this book about? My first thought is: everything. Strout writes in a deceptively straightforward style that covers so much that is important and real. It’s about life in the small town of Crosby, Maine. It’s primarily about aging, and parents’ relationships with their children, and marriage and death and second chances. It’s particularly poignant in that Olive’s point of view is that of a woman in her seventies and eighties, and that’s a perspective we rarely get in fiction.

Olive is my favorite kind of character; she’s complicated and flawed. She can be kind but she’s also stubborn and judgmental. She’s not nice, and she’s difficult to get to know. I realize that not everyone likes Olive, and if you’re one of those readers, this book might not be for you. But I loved it.

That’s not to say this is an easy read; there are parts that made me uncomfortable but Strout never sugar-coats. I was also sad that I didn’t find out more about what happened to some of the characters.

The truth is that Olive did not understand why age had brought with it a kind of hard-heartedness toward her husband. But it was something she had seemed unable to help, as though the stone wall that had rambled along between them during the course of their long marriage – a stone wall that separated them but also provided unexpected dips of moss-covered warm spots where sunshine would flicker between them in a sudden laugh of understanding – had become tall and unyielding, and not providing flowers in its crannies but some ice storm frozen along it instead.

It’s been a little while since I read Olive Kitteridge, and I wish I’d read them closer together, but I don’t think it affected my understanding of the book. I’m thinking that each chapter in this book introduces someone who is new to the story, and Strout covers Olive’s past well.

This book made me think, not only about my own marriage and family and getting older, but about how I treat the people I interact with every day. Because if crusty old Olive can take the time to stop and listen to someone, shouldn’t I?

Note: I received an advanced review copy of this book from NetGalley and publisher Random House. The book publishes today, October 15, 2019.

It was a sheer delight to back in Olive Kitteridge's world! Olive, Again is not so much a novel that you read as it is a novel that you feel. I don't have anything in common with Olive, don't live in a town that resembles hers at all, and don't have any people in my life like those that inhabit Olive, Again. Yet, from the very first word, author Elizabeth Strout had me completely immersed in Olive-Land.

Olive, Again lets us into Olive's life in her seventies and eighties. Not every chapter is about Olive per se, but it is about the world she inhabits and its other inhabitants. As in her novel, Olive Kitteridge, Strout develops a character who is not everyone's cup of tea, but I am captivated by her. Each of the chapters is so moving that I felt I knew each character intimately. The two chapters that I found almost unbearably touching were the one where Olive's son and his family come for an incredibly uncomfortable visit and the one at the end where Olive enters an assisted living community and makes a new friend.

This isn't my usual kind of novel as I tend more toward thrillers and psychological suspense, but I loved Olive, Again and give 5 big stars. My thanks to NetGalley and Random House for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It was enjoyable to catch up with Olive, Again. Elizabeth Strout has written about a strong woman who speaks her mind. Sometimes without forethought, but learning to care a little more about others. I feel like I've met Olive and can't decide whether or not I like her (I do).

Not really a satisfying stand alone book. I didn't take time to go back and reread Olive Kitteridge, and I should have. This was an enjoyable read; however, it would have been better if I had more recently read the other.  If you loved Olive Kitteridge, you will love this one.  Just make sure you have read the first recently, or you will struggle to remember ...

I love the writing and the bringing back of Olive. I do wish I had reread the first one before reading this one. but Olive is still Olive and how she navigates this last part of her life is touching. Although we know she can be awful we also have a lot of empathy for her struggles. And I love how the author brings in all of the other local characters some once or twice and some for a bit and shows how all of these lives intersect.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. There weren't huge events that happened,it was more of a quiet read. I love Olive and I hope to kond of be like her in my golden years. She isn't fake to me and she's also blunt but not overly rude. I read this book before the first one and I look forward to seeing what Olive was like as a young woman.

It was wonderful to meet Olive again! I really enjoyed this novel and I am sure others will as well.

Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout is a beautiful well written novel. Throughtout the book the reader sees Olive struggling with her difficulty forming satisfying relationships and having few friends.. She loves Henry, her husband, but is freequently verblably agressive and says thoughtless things that hurt peole. SHe has one son was hurt by her indifference to his new wife and step children. This caused a break in ther relationship but she never felt it was a loss.
Throughtout the book we see examples of her changing and forming several strong relationships.SHe is able to marry again and express love . for her second husband. . SHe has changed so uch in her last year and before her death and was able to make friends and think about other people.
I read the first book that ELizabeth Strount wrote about Olive before I started this one. It gave me a completepicture of a woman who had difficulty interacting and forming relationships. I think everyone should read both books and see the 4 part serries on HBO about Oive and Henry.