Real Life & Liars
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3.8 • 19 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Sometimes you find happiness where, and when, you least expect it.
For Mirabelle Zielinski's children, happiness always seems to be just out of reach. Her polished oldest daughter, Katya, clings to a stale marriage with a workaholic husband and three spoiled children. Her son, Ivan, so creative, is a down-in-the-dumps songwriter with the worst taste in women. And the "baby," impulsive Irina, who lives life on a whim, is now reluctantly pregnant and hitched to a man who is twice her age. On the weekend of their parents' anniversary party, lies will be revealed, hearts will be broken...but love will also be found. And the biggest shock may come from Mirabelle herself, because she has a secret that will change everything.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The Zielinskis, the dysfunctional family of Riggle's delightful debut, have some problems, even if things at Mirabelle and Max's 35th anniversary party thrown by their three adult children at first seem peachy. Soon, though, the cracks appear: daughter Katya's stuck in a loveless marriage and saddled with three bratty kids. Son Ivan's a struggling songwriter who falls for all the wrong girls, and the youngest daughter, Irina, is a free-spirited 21-year-old, knocked up by a man twice her age. There's just no more room in their lives for another problem, but Mirabelle has a secret she's dying of breast cancer. With ease and grace, Riggle walks the fine line between sentimentality and comedy, and she has a sure hand in creating fun, quirky characters. Humorous and humane storytelling makes this much better than the standard cancer tear-jerker.
Customer Reviews
Great story.
Well developed characters and realistic life situations kept me wanting more.
Too much going on, not well developed.
Was not overly impressed by this book. It had been in my queue for some time and I finally downloaded. Wish I had chosen a different book.
I was unable to connect with the characters, I simply could not relate to Mira or her thought process. The rest of the characters and their story lines were choppy. There were slices of development that were just left without resolution. The story line regarding an ex boyfriend built up then suddenly ended- similarly the book was over with a less then exciting conclusion.
You could say there was too much going on, each between each character, a raging storm, and an anniversary party none or written to their greatest potential. It could have been the authors point, trying to show the flurry of activity surrounding this weekend when the whole family is together, but in my opinion it was not successful.