Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

You know, when this book populated in my Amazon feed, I immediately thought: Oh, goody, goody! A novel involving family angst, something out of my normal reading genre (police procedural, horror, thriller, suspense, nominated award winners)! Yay! I must confess that I am a word nerd. I am a grammar Nazi. I have been, and always have been, a prolific reader. Unfortunately, I am now homebound (kinda sounds like I'm out in the highlands merrily frolicking with my little Labrador and scamp of a kitten; but the reality is not that sexy), and while I've always been a huge reader, now that I'm at home, my focus is more and more on literary items then not; I usually read at least two books daily, depending of course on their length and breadth. I did NOT expect this book to be in the same family angst genre, say of, oh I don't know ... maybe Song of Solomon, Shuggie Bain, Portnoy's Complaint, Hill House, or The Nickel Boys. And I was right. I was HOPING that this book might be in the same family angst genre, say of, oh, I don't know ... maybe Ordinary People, A Thousand Acres, or even anything written by Ms. Liane Moriarty. And I was wrong. I inherently know that a published, physical book may deviate in form from its electronic compadre, but that's no excuse for us, those with an electronic reader, to suffer through poor editing. The author crows loudly and profusely, and thanks her not one, but two (two!), editors for their assistance with this book. I'm sorry. My eyes are so far rolled back in my head, I fear I may take a header. One moment, please. On page six (page six!) I found this most egregious error - kinda similar to what Darryl Strawberry would make - and once I read it, I couldn't get past it: " ...decorating a nursery became a reflection of the good taste and intellectual rigor of the entire family," Really editor folk? Is the intellectual capacity of the family that trite and that staid? No, it's not. Methinks you meant rigueur. And there were other numerous errors that followed after this ... Speaking of the characters, in a nutshell: yuck. I would not want to meet anyone of these self-absorbed, narcissistic, nasty-pants characters in a coffee shop, let alone a "green room". Flora finds out that her husband cheated on her many, many moons ago. And she finds her best friend knew about his cheating, but never said a word. And now, 15+ years later, she's in a dither. I wanted to slap her. Oh, and her daughter, too. Her daughter is so coddled and so narcissistic that - get this - she really doesn't like her boyfriend, but still goes to spend a summer in Spain with him and his family - it's free; they're paying; why not? But then (but then!) he " dumps" her at the airport before her flight home to JFK, and she is bereft! Astounded! Outraged! However upon seeing her mother at the airport, she crumbles just like Al Jolson on his knees - wait; he sang "Mammy; she only sighs "Mommy". The writing and verbiage from the author was okay; in fact I highlighted a few things that were very witty: please note accent on " few". If you want something in the same vein but isn't as pretentious, try Liane Moriarty, for a softer read, or Shuggie Bain or The Nickel Boys for a look at real life struggle.