Thought this would pick up at some point - the characters weren't likeable, and I'll admit the opening line/paragraph itself rubbed me the wrong way (insensitive, imo, to women who are actually in a violent marriage). Then the timelines started jumping, and it became a bit crazy trying to follow along. So it wasn't my cup of tea, sadly.

DNF’ed at 30%.

I don’t DNF easily, but I couldn’t take any more of Em. It felt like they were purposefully staying miserable and not taking action to do something about it and I couldn’t handle it anymore.

Hope it does work for others.

A story packed with a punch. Em struggles to find her way and identity as she follows her husband and his career. Eventually, she finds her way in this narrative.

Thank you NetGalley and She Writes Press for giving the opportunity to read this.

As someone who has lived in seven different countries and traveled to more, I just couldn't relate to this book. For one, my husband and I worked together so I never felt the loneliness of him being away from my kids and me. Also, I loved the expat life and all it encompassed.

This novel is told from the perspective of a “tagalong wife” who follows her husband around the world on expat assignments. The book reads like a friend is telling you their story over a drink. I didn’t particularly enjoy the book, but found the topic and the main character’s journey in grappling with her identity interesting.

The storytelling is non-linear, which is normally not a problem for me, but I found it a bit confusing in this book. I would often be a paragraph or two into a new chapter before I could place when or where I was in the story.

3⭐️

#netgalley #emsawfulgoodfortune

Em's Awful Good Fortune is written in one of the main character's perspectives, Em. Em is the wife to Gee. Em and Gee have 2 children. Gee's job requires them to move all around the world. They've lived in Paris, China, as well as their home base of the U.S. Em and the two children have to pack up everything and go elsewhere, leaving their loved ones and friends behind. Gee's job currently is placing him in Japan. Em refuses, at least at first. Gee wants to let the "kids" stay in California. The kids aren't kids anymore, so their daughter lives in their house while their son is elsewhere. Em shares how difficult it is when they move as well as discusses their past moves. Gee ends up working and Em is stuck at home by herself (or with the kids when they were little). Em rarely sees Gee. In this story, you learn how Em and Gee met, how things first started and how they got to how they are now.

The book was okay - it was good, but it wasn't my favorite read. The timeline is all over the place. You'll be on the present and next thing you know in the past, but you don't always know it's the past. Em complains a lot in this book. It's understanding why, for the most part. I was frustrated at how the story ended. It just felt like it could've been such a big event, but it wasn't.

It is a quick read and you can imagine the scenes in Paris or Shanghai. I just wish there was more to it, I felt like the story had no real purpose.

ARC provided by Netgalley for an honest review.

I wish I was better at putting a book down when I realize it isn’t working for me. I kept waiting for this to get better but it kept getting more chaotic and unlikable as it went on. Em is married to Gee. Gee is married to his career. They both are miserable as she gives up her career and follows him around the world as a “tagalong” spouse. They cheat on each other, have no respect for each other, raise entitled children and then it turns into a manifesto about the awful air quality in Shanghai. There were so many characters and timeline/location jumps it was impossible to keep track of what was going on. This was a huge miss for me.

I struggled with this book. I never could fall for the main character, who seemed shrill and whiny the entire novel. While I understand her struggles with her marriage and life are real struggles, I also just wanted to shake her by the shoulders and remind her that she was in charge of her own life. Yes, there were parts of this novel that had me cheering for Em, had me wanting her to end up victorious, but overall, I would not recommend this book to friends and fellow readers.

💭 ᴍʏ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛꜱ:
This book is really enjoyable and was such a light & quick read. I loved Marcie's writing style which was funny with a hint of sarcasm and self-critique. I flew through it. It's lovely to get a look into an internationals life and how life is like being an expat. Truly fascinating. I didn't really liked Gee (the husband) as I think he doesn't really take Em's feelings into account at all and I was screaming at this book multiple times that Em deserves so much better. The ending was a step in the right direction, but had a feeling there could be more to it.
⭐️⭐️⭐️

🤓 ʀᴇᴀᴅ ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪᴋᴇ:
Drama in a Marriage
Sarcasm
A look into an internationals life

ꜱʏɴᴏᴘꜱɪꜱ:
𝘌𝘮’𝘴 𝘈𝘸𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯’𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘍𝘶𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘌𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭: 𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘳. 𝘌𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥; 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘤𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥’𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘳. 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘺, 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘓𝘰𝘴 𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴, 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴, 𝘛𝘰𝘬𝘺𝘰, 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘩𝘢𝘪, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘭. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥’𝘴; 𝘌𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘨-𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘧𝘦.

eh, this was okay. not awful but not outstanding. i wouldn't read it again but i would recommend it.

An interesting story about a woman who has sacrificed a lot of her own life to follow her husband to whatever foreign country his career demands She ends up in China, which is the last straw and her marriage slowly starts to come apart.

Em should be grateful. A mom of two children with a successful husband, Gee, whose career has them traveling and living in locations all over the world.

But Em and Gee are far from the perfect couple, and Em is not as happy as she once was in their marriage, as they seem to drift a bit more day by day.

This was an a fairly quick read, and it was entertaining to hear about all the different types of settings. At times I found the story outline a bit confusing in regards to the timeline. Never quite grew to like Em very much, and I felt like the ending could have been stronger.

Thanks to NetGalley for this advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

I was excited about this book based on the description and cover. Unfortunately I had a hard time trying to follow the story. I felt it jumped around to much.

I personal am not a fan of this authors writing style.

Em’s Awful Good Fortune by Marcus Maxfield is her memoir of being a “tagalong” - a wife identifying with following her husband around the world as he accepts jobs, and discarding her own.
The book is her processing of her problem with this inadequate identity. She yearns for a different, autonomous, and authentic life but does not know how to reconcile that with marriage and motherhood,
It takes Maxine to the end of the book before she realizes that she alone is in control of allowing herself to make her own life.
I enjoyed her descriptions of foreign life (and will never, ever go to China), as well as her musings about marriage in general, and how it shape-shifts through life’s stages.
Thank you to NetGalley for this advanced read.