Reese's Book Club | March '20: The Jetsetters
The Jetsetters: a Novel by Amanda Eyre Ward is the Reese's Book Club x Hello Sunshine pick for March 2020! Here is a shortened description directly from Amanda’s website: “When seventy-year-old Charlotte Perkins submits a sexy essay to the “Become a Jetsetter” contest, she dreams of reuniting her estranged children. When she wins the contest, the family packs their baggage—both literal and figurative—and spends ten days traveling on an over-the-top cruise ship, the Splendido Marveloso. As lovers new and old join the adventure, long-buried secrets are revealed and old wounds are reopened, forcing the Perkins family to confront the forces that drove them apart and the defining choices of their lives. The Jetsetters is a delicious and intelligent novel about the courage it takes to reveal our true selves, the pleasures and perils of family, and how we navigate the seas of adulthood.”
For more information about the Author, Reese’s Book Club, or my SPOILER FILLED thoughts on the book - scroll down!
my rating:
Here are some links to purchase the book and/or learn more about Amanda Eyre Ward:
Book: amazon.com
Audiobook: audible.com
Amanda Eyre Ward’s Website: amandaward.com
Amanda Eyre Ward’s Instagram: @amandaeyreward
If you would like to find out more about Reese's Book Club and/or follow along as well, here are some helpful links!
Reese's Book Club x Hello Sunshine Website: hello-sunshine.com/book-club
Complete List of Monthly Picks: hello-sunshine.com/post/reeses-book-club-all-picks
Instagram: @reesesbookclub
Goodreads: goodreads.com
*** spoiler alert ***
my thoughts on the novel below
Dysfunctional families always make from great reading because most of us can relate in one way or another, and that element of this novel was definitely entertaining and relatable in many ways. The story about the Perkins was engaging and the different personalities and challenges definitely kept me intrigued enough to continue reading. It was often hilarious while being simultaneously tragic or embarrassing, which is generally what family life is, right?
For most of the book, I was curious to find out how things would transpire with Charlotte and her children. If I’m being honest though, I’m slightly disappointed in how the novel ended. For the entire book, we are on an emotional rollercoaster with the suicidal actress, gay only-son, and secretly unhappy stable sister. We wondered how the often-in-denial mother would react and we felt pity for her when we learned that her behaviours and values stemmed from her own twisted upbringing. However, the ending seemed so tame and matter-of-fact with a general happy ending, and I felt that decades of suppressed emotions communication problems would require a major ending with a “we’re growing but working on it” approach, not a “all is green in this garden because we watered it once” ending. Maybe I’m looking too much into it, but I was fully invested in the characters until the very end. However, I am glad that Charlotte finally got laid because it would have been a tragedy if she went through all that and ended up NOT having her romance-novel-fantasies actualized.
All in all, regardless of my thoughts on the ending, I thought it was an entertaining story with some great take-aways about family and life. It reminds us that there is always a Why behind a What and sometimes you just need to take the time to communicate honestly, however awkward or painful it might be, in order to grow and heal and understand.