I love love loved Where’d You Go, Bernadette. I reviewed it back at the beginning of the year and my opinion stands – Maria Semple’s writing is just addicting. Today Will Be Different takes place over a smaller timeframe and doesn’t have quite the same stage presence as the other novel, but damn is it hard to put down. Y’all, I finished this in hours.
It does feel a lot like Bernadette, it’s like the second verse in the same song. Eleanor is a bundle of quirks (like another Eleanor I reviewed, oh hey), who deeply loves her husband and child even if she may have too many of said quirks to really show it. The husband is a bit of a wet bag, but thankfully he’s not too much of a character. Her son is adorable, and I did appreciate the side character of her poetry coach.
The backstory explaining her falling out with her sister was far and away the most interesting part. Her husband finding his own way, doing his own thing, is … meh. But the caraciture her sister marries is hilariously terrible but in a really entertaining way for long enough that you don’t see his horribleness coming. And then he’s really, really horrible. And it hurts to watch things some close to betting better and then it all falls apart and it hurts all the more.
It’s not as good as Bernadette, mostly because there’s no Antartica. But I wouldn’t kick this book out of bed for eating crackers.
My favorite part of this book was her son downloading the concussion app on his phone and making sure she was okay.
Yes! I have such a soft spot for child characters that aren’t annoying.