Where I Went Wrong by David Galef

This was an entertaining read.
The book balances humour and heart, and the narrator's witty voice was amusing, but the story also tackles some serious life topics.
Despite dealing with deep themes, the narrative remains easy to follow, making it a compelling page turner.
Overall, it's a happy read that will leave you smiling – and maybe even reflecting on your own life journey.

Thank you to NetGalley and General Fiction for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Tony Mazza is down on his luck, in fact, bad days seem to follow him around and define his life. He's had more jobs in his life than he's had hot meals and just keeps making one bad decision after another. As he looks back on his failed relationships, his inadequate relationship with his children and where he ended up, Tony asks himself 'Where did I go wrong?'. The storyline is cleverly told in reverse which keeps you interested and engaged in Tony's story.

A serious story told well in a lightheaded way that is definitely a worthwhile read. Tony's story is told in a humorous and slightly sad manner that gives the story some punch. I couldn't help but like Tony, despite his poor decision-making, I just wouldn't consider him potential boyfriend material.
A thoroughly enjoyable read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Holly Watson for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I enjoyed the story by the end. The character development was good. I do feel that the pacing was a little slow. But overall a good book.

The beginning of this book dragged for me. I thought about DNFing it at about 25%, but decided to stick it out in case it got better - which it did, if not entirely so. The main thing that bothers me about this book is that I really dislike Tony as a person, particularly because he's misogynistic and kind of racist. I really don't feel like we needed those characterizations to establish Tony as a flawed character because the entire book is about his other (myriad) flaws. It was incredibly difficult to want to root for him because of this, especially before we get the rest of his backstory. I understand that this is intentional, but I could not bring myself to like him as an adult. I also thought his jokes were absolutely awful and I did not understand why everyone around him (particularly women) were falling over themselves laughing at his terrible puns. Also, the backwards structure of the narrative, though interesting, often made it so that Tony was repeating things that we already knew because he had said them in previous chapters, which got old pretty quickly. That being said, I did think this book picked up in the second half as we got farther into Tony's backstory, and I liked the ending. I can't say I totally enjoyed reading this book, but it had its moments.

4⭐️

[a copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher from netgalley. thank you!]

a well-written book with great character development