Yikes! Not even sure where to begin on this one. It has received a ton of publicity, and has been met with mixed reviews. Many people give up after reading only a small bit because the main character, Natalie, is so unlikeable. This was always a big question in my former book club... Can you like a book but dislike the central character. I say yes, and I found Natalie (at least at first) to be fascinating.
The book does jump around in time, and in the present time, Natalie is an online influencer promoting a tradwife lifestyle. She lives on a farm, bakes bread, homeschools kids, and submits to her husband. At least that is the image she portrays online. And she's very successful at this. Then we learn what goes on behind the scenes and how Natalie started her career. Saying any more would give it all away so I'll leave it there.
I quickly got into the book and thought the characters were interesting. But the ending is confusing and I feel there are still some unanswered questions. In spite of that, I admit to be someone who looks at influencers and thinks... how are these people making tons of money doing nothing more than filming their lives and posting the videos online? In preparing for travel, I watch YouTube videos of couples who have give up their jobs to travel fulltime, and they pay for it all with the money they get from their videos. Or my granddaughter watches YouTube videos of a family with three kids just going about their normal family activities. Why does she think that is at all interesting, and yet they live in a mansion thanks to the money they rake in. It's a crazy world. But we all get sucked into these people and their personalities and lives.
I guess I recommend this book for it's creativity and it's attempt to tackle some tough questions about our society today. -June
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