Commonwealth in Bound Together

Oct 30, 2016 Annet rated it it was amazing

Shelves: coming-of-age, literature-pure, have-to-read-again, family-ties, brilliant, wow-impressive, classics, wilderness-books-can-usa, age-ing

Well, I simply loved this book. 4.5 going on 5. One of the highlights in 2016.
Wonderful storytelling about two families getting 'intertwined' by changed marriages, affected by a family tragedy that hit them all in some way. The story is written going to and fro in time, and we follow several family members in their personal lives at some point in time. It's a story full of emotion, tragedy, love...
Beautiful & heartfelt... and highly recommended.

Thanks to all Goodreads friends who brought me t ...more

165 likes · Like · see review

Jan 14, 2017 ☮Karen rated it liked it

Shelves: read-in-2017, chgo-and-or-illinois

Argh, my thoughts about this are all over the place. First I was expecting it and its big cast of characters to confuse the heck out of me, based on a few reviews I had read. But it really didn't. Not at all. Maybe I just simply paid extra close attention during those beginning chapters and I quickly became involved in it all, with all of them, the two sets of parents, two who would switch partners, and the six total kids between them. Those kids, like a tribe whenever they got together, were on ...more

24 likes · Like · see review

Jan 12, 2017 Irene rated it liked it

A spontaneous kiss between virtual strangers becomes an affair which leads to ruptured and blended families. In episodic fashion which moves backward and forward in time, we witness the effect of thoughtless adult decisions on their six children. Alliances are formed and trusts are violated, tragedies unfold and the kaleidoscope of family turns again. This book has received much positive attention, but I can’t identify the reason for the fuss. There were too many characters over too much time to ...more

10 likes · Like · see review

Feb 15, 2017 Deb rated it it was ok

After finishing this, then reading some reviews, many people said not to start with this book as your first Patchett. I should have read those beforehand. I could not keep the relationships straight, at all. Who were blood siblings, who were step siblings, who were the parents of each, who lived in CA vs VA?! Utterly confusing. For me at least. I think the story was good, but taking so long into a new chapter to figure out what was going on and who these people were again, at different time peri ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Nov 16, 2017 Mina rated it it was amazing

Shelves: book-club-reads, book-fairy-reads

This was my pick for book club and while reading it I kept saying to myself I hope my friends are loving this book as much as I am.

There were parts of the story that had me holding my breath - thinking I can't turn the page - I can't turn the page....and parts that had me reading aloud because the passage was so powerful. There were parts that I wanted to hurry through to get back to other aspects of the story but then realized what an impact it had on the entire story

Anne Patchett for the win ...more

1 like · Like · see review