Cake: A Novel
by Nicole Brooks
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I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Cake is the novel that asks us to look at ourselves and decide how much is too much. How selfish is too selfish, should we keep giving from ourselves until we have nothing left?
Michelle gives her entire self. She gives herself to her daughter as a loving mother who protects her in every way she can. She is even willing to suffer if she believes it is for her daughters benefit. She gives herself to her abusive husband as his obedient housewife in exchange for financial security. Keely gives nothing. She was a stay home mom when he kids were small, but found it didn't make her happy so she changed her life. Her main priorities are her body, her fitness competitions and her gym. She gave away enough of her life and now she wants what makes her happy. When the two women's lives collide in more ways than one, can each learn a little about give and take for their own lives? Or are they stuck on the path they've been travelling forever?
I flew threw the first (approx.) 75% of this novel and then I found it got so cliche and stereotypical. After that it slowed down for me. I also found the ending to be rushed and everyone's problems seemed to be solved with the snap of a finger in the most TV wrapped predictable way possible.
The characters were one dimensional. Each character was simply all one thing. Keely was self obsessed with no softer moments. Michelle was an obedient woman with no good days or bad days, just sad obedient days with her abusive husband. She has one or two moments where she seems to be standing up for herself but then she's only fine when she's rescued by the man.
I did like that the book addressed certain issues, although I'm still unsure how I feel about the way they were addressed. I hate that Michelle was 'saved' by someone other than herself. I found that aspect to be quite disappointing as she never really learned to stand up for herself.
Overall, it wasn't a bad read. It's quick enough where even if you didn't like the story it doesn't feel like you wasted a lot of time on it. Would I recommend it? Yes, because despite the flaws I still think this book has some things that you can take away from it.
Cake is the novel that asks us to look at ourselves and decide how much is too much. How selfish is too selfish, should we keep giving from ourselves until we have nothing left?
Michelle gives her entire self. She gives herself to her daughter as a loving mother who protects her in every way she can. She is even willing to suffer if she believes it is for her daughters benefit. She gives herself to her abusive husband as his obedient housewife in exchange for financial security. Keely gives nothing. She was a stay home mom when he kids were small, but found it didn't make her happy so she changed her life. Her main priorities are her body, her fitness competitions and her gym. She gave away enough of her life and now she wants what makes her happy. When the two women's lives collide in more ways than one, can each learn a little about give and take for their own lives? Or are they stuck on the path they've been travelling forever?
I flew threw the first (approx.) 75% of this novel and then I found it got so cliche and stereotypical. After that it slowed down for me. I also found the ending to be rushed and everyone's problems seemed to be solved with the snap of a finger in the most TV wrapped predictable way possible.
The characters were one dimensional. Each character was simply all one thing. Keely was self obsessed with no softer moments. Michelle was an obedient woman with no good days or bad days, just sad obedient days with her abusive husband. She has one or two moments where she seems to be standing up for herself but then she's only fine when she's rescued by the man.
I did like that the book addressed certain issues, although I'm still unsure how I feel about the way they were addressed. I hate that Michelle was 'saved' by someone other than herself. I found that aspect to be quite disappointing as she never really learned to stand up for herself.
Overall, it wasn't a bad read. It's quick enough where even if you didn't like the story it doesn't feel like you wasted a lot of time on it. Would I recommend it? Yes, because despite the flaws I still think this book has some things that you can take away from it.
Hmm...not sure this is my thing, so I probably would have felt the same way.
ReplyDeleteIt was definitely one if those books that makes you think about the situation and how it was handled.
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