This One Is Mine: A Novel

I love Maria Semple's Where'd You Go Bernadette so I decided to read all her books. This one is just plain terrible. None of the characters are remotely likeable so there's really nobody to root for. I only finished it so that I wouldn't have to think about it anymore. It's a collection of shallow people who aren't very nice to each other. Even the main character, who is supposed to be loveably eccentric in the same vein as Bernadette, is not admirable or sympathetic in any way.
The other thing I was really disturbed by was the way autism is portrayed. The autistic boy who sucks the joy out of his parents' lives and ruins every situation. I won't mention the other situation because it would spoil the plot, but let's just reiterate: very disturbing.
I kept waiting for some sort of redemption for these characters, but ugh.
If you loved Bernadette and want to try one of her other books, Today Will Be Different is a better choice.

I made it halfway through this book before throwing it across the room after realizing I’d been cringing with discomfort for the last 20 minutes. The characters are hard to sympathize with as they act in irrational, self-destructive ways. The author has one character repeatedly dropping the n-word for absolutely no reason. It’s a genuinely unpleasant read—all that kept me reading was the hope that the characters would make better decisions that lead them toward fulfillment rather than selfishness, but it doesn’t happen. After reading her other two books, which had so much in common with each other, this one was a shock—the writing style, characters, plot, and themes that the author explores couldn’t be farther from her other books. Definitely skip this one.

All I want to do is go back in time and unread this book. The dumbness of this book haunts me at night. Every character and every event, just mind numbingly stupid. I don't even want this book in my library, but I can't give it away either to save someone else from reading it.

Listen, this wasn't nearly as good as Where'd you go Bernadette. But it wasn't as horrible as some people say. By the time it ended I actually needed/wanted to know more. The beginning left a bit to be desired, but as the story moved on a lot of it was relatable.

She’s not a bad writer, but everyone in this book sucks. From the unnecessary racial slurs to the fat shaming throughout...there is not a single redeemable character or point to the plot. Unless the point is that everyone is terrible...? Spend your time on another book.

The plot wasn't great, but overall it wasn't that bad. Not much likeable about any of the characters.

Like other reviewers, I read this book after enjoying "Where'd You go, Bernadette," unfortunately I didn't enjoy this book. I read the whole thing, so it's not the worst book I've ever picked up, but I just found the characters to be unlikeable and the relationships didn't seem realistic to me at all.

This was obviously written in the early aughts — it’s pretty painfully dated. I’m talking flip phones, Don Henley music videos (which was a dated reference even in the early aughts) and a husband angry over his wife seeing a Mexican. As a society, we’ve evolved beyond this book. It’s also just kind of dumb. Like, really dumb. I can’t believe this is from the same person as Where’d You Go Bernadette? I’m putting it down at 50%. Do yourself a favor and don’t pick it up at all.

Superbly satirical!

Bought this book after reading where’d you go, Bernadette? I loved that book, it was the best book I have read all year. This one was horrible, extremely disappointed in Semple. I know this book came first but woof it was not enjoyable at all. Cringing most of the time. I’m finally finished, thank god, and now I want to throw it away so no one else has to be subjected to this pointless book.