The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
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Book Reviews of The Friday Night Knitting Club
Book Review: Engaging and surprising
Summary: 4 Stars
I finished this book a couple of weeks ago and find that I'm still thinking about it. I was surprised by the turn of events at the end; I usually avoid books that include this particular topic because it's too close to home. Nonetheless I think Ms. Jacobs wrote an interesting story with interesting characters and relationships. I'm looking forward to reading 'Comfort Food' because I like her writing style. I'm a beginning knitter, too, and I drew inspiration from the knitting aspects of the story.Book Review: Could have done without that downer!
Summary: 3 Stars
For me the ending ruined this book. It was going along at a 4 star pace, as an enjoyable read, about different woman, all friends, traveling different interesting journeys in life....then the last quarter of the book came along....totally ruined whatever redeeming qualities the book had. I'll say no more, so as not to ruin it for anyone, but if you like an even somewhat "feel good" story, you might not want to read this. Totally a downer ending.Book Review: Read this if you have nothing else to do.
Summary: 2 Stars
This book is so predictable. Boring. I don't know why I bothered to finish the book. Characters were uninspiring and undeveloped. What's up with the Scottish granny that knows everything? And don't even get me started on the deadbeat dad that redeems himself. I definitely do not recommend this book unless you are an avid reader of chic lit. Book Review: Well, I really liked this book . . .
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm shocked at how many people didn't like this book and that some of them felt the characters were cliched. I will confess that it took me awhile to get into the story. But once I did, I really loved it. It's true that in terms of craft the book could have been better written -- it annoyed me when Jacobs skipped important scenes and told us about them after they'd taken place -- something I caution my writing students against. No one likes missing out on the action. It's also true that some parts of the story were hard to believe -- I mean, how many generous landlords are left in the big, bad city? Despite those things, it's truly a wonderful story, filled with warmth and heart -- a true celebration of female friendship and the belief that people can learn from their mistakes. It also made me wish I had the time to knit. Or bake, like Dakota does. No matter what some readers have said, I highly recommend this book. The only reason I gave it four stars instead of five is because of the writing flaws, not because the story is flawed. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Book Review: A bit too much...
Summary: 3 Stars
Overall, this was a sweet story of friendship and of women working together to support one another, with knitting but also with life issues.
Here are the problems... (spoilers!)
I really think the author tried to cram in too much here. Georgia is a single mother with business sense and ambition. That's great. But the absentee father of her daughter happens to be black, making her daughter bi-racial. When he comes back into their lives (too easily to be convincing) she tells him that she's read up on issues of biracial children and how to help Dakota deal with whatever she might encounter because of it. James is skeptical. But then that's over... Dakota never has to deal with any race-related issues at all, so we don't know how that issue is resolved.
Lucie gets herself pregnant by a guy she met on the Internet, but she evidently never tells him or her family that she's having a baby. She even mentions at one point that she's not going to tell her parents about the baby, but don't you think they're going to find out eventually? And she goes to Georgia for advice about being a single mom, but Georgia never once asks who the father is or how he feels about fatherhood? One would think that as a single parent, Georgia would encourage her to get the father involved, since she knows how hard it is to do it completely alone. But no, that's never mentioned.
Darwin cheats on her long-distance husband with a friend of a friend. She finally confesses this to him on the phone, and he hangs up on her. But the next time they mention him, it's when he shows up on Darwin's doorstep, ready to forgive her. Hello? What transpired in between?
KC goes to law school, but what was the point of her character? She just seemed like filler to me. She didn't really add anything for me.
I do appreciate trying to make the story complex with so many storylines, but there are so many things left unresolved or skimmed over. I'll give Jacobs's next novel a try, but I'm curious about how she would respond to this.