Where'd you Go, Bernadette (includes spoilers)

[Anonymous]

I finished this book about 5 minutes ago. Wow. I really wanted to like it, but ultimately I don't think I do. Maybe 3.5/5 stars.

The format of the first part of the book was intriguing, and I started getting invested in the characters and the build-up to the big mystery - Bernadette's disappearance.

By the end though, I felt like this promising beginning had fallen apart. I felt completely blindsided by the ending, or lack thereof! By the end of Bernadette's heretofore missing letter, there's a hope of familial reconciliation and new beginnings. But oh by the way, the author decided to give Elgin a ridiculous love child with his admin! I think the book would have worked so much better without that plot point - what purpose does it serve other than to muddy the denouement of the book???

The author also spent a ton of time telling us about Samantha2, only to have it all disappear at the end - what purpose was that supposed to serve in the book other than to establish Elgin as a workaholic? That could have been done with a lot fewer words.

Anyone else read this book and have similar (or completely contradictory!!) thoughts??

[Anonymous]

I read it a while ago so I don’t remember the details, but I didn’t have contradictory feelings about the book at all - I straight up didn’t like it.

[Anonymous]

It reminded me a lot of my own quirky mother, which is probably why I found it Fascinating! For this kind of book I don’t need all the pieces to line up perfectly. To each their own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It reminded me a lot of my own quirky mother, which is probably why I found it Fascinating! For this kind of book I don’t need all the pieces to line up perfectly. To each their own.

I wanted to like the book so much, but I hated the ending. It felt like the author started it without having a clear sense of where it was going and then couldn’t come up with a clever ending, so she resorted to absurdity.

[Anonymous]

I remember the ending was disappointing, but overall I really liked the book for it’s original main character and overall zaniness.

I also really liked her next book (Today Will Be Different), which cranked the zaniness of Bernadette up to 11! 😂 I listened on audiobook, and I can STILL hear the reader’s voice in my head - especially the parts about Bucky. I absolutely loved it!

[Anonymous]

OP again, I liked the zaniness and the quirky mother aspect (though it reminds me of Gilmore Girls where the 'quirky mother' doesn't always age well and is Bernadette reallly quirky or just a bitter, snobby jerk??).

I wish there were fewer plot holes...in real life, the FBI is not showing up in person over an identity theft case. Also Bernadette would not have been "missing" for more than a couple days - the police would have been able to see that she was on the plane to Miami and then Chile. Also shipping Bee off to boarding school was just a transparent device to make sure the letter didn't arrive on time (nobody from the school would have passed the letter on or tried to contact her, despite the "mystery" of her mom being gone?

[Anonymous]

I enjoyed it as an audiobook to keep my mind off of other things I was doing at the time. It's that kind of book. Not great literature, just entertaining.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again, I liked the zaniness and the quirky mother aspect (though it reminds me of Gilmore Girls where the 'quirky mother' doesn't always age well and is Bernadette reallly quirky or just a bitter, snobby jerk??).

I wish there were fewer plot holes...in real life, the FBI is not showing up in person over an identity theft case. Also Bernadette would not have been "missing" for more than a couple days - the police would have been able to see that she was on the plane to Miami and then Chile. Also shipping Bee off to boarding school was just a transparent device to make sure the letter didn't arrive on time (nobody from the school would have passed the letter on or tried to contact her, despite the "mystery" of her mom being gone?

I think you nailed it. I found her a bitter, snobby jerk.

[Anonymous]

I loved it and can identify, as a quirky mom myself.

I think the ending is sort of giving wings to that little part of yourself who just wonders what it would be like to peace out of our complicated, yet banal everyday lives. Have you never wanted to know what it would be like if you could drop all your responsibilities and go live in Nepal or something? This book is the “what if.”

Just my take. I’d never actually do something like that, and it was fun escapism getting to follow along. It’s a romp, not high literature.

[Anonymous]

Have you seen the movie? I quite liked that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you seen the movie? I quite liked that.

Is the ending good?

[Anonymous]

I read the Wikipedia article about the movie and no mention of a love baby which was one of my major issues with the book. So seemingly that would clarify the ending as well.