listen...

i love a good adventure storyline with twists and turns for side quests

BUT.

this was trying too hard to be gone girl. it just lacked the same cuntiness and girlbossing. based on the title, cover, and description, i had high hopes going into this, but it felt lackluster and disappointing while listening.

i don't hate this by any means, but it definitely doesn't compete for favorites.

thank you to harper muse audiobooks, netgalley, and susan coll for the advanced copy!

2/5

A funny, weird and sad book all in one. You’ll feel bad for the main character and what she’s going through dealing with a husband that stays in the basement, trying to figure out what really happened to her when she was young, and a surprise visit all while being treated with kids gloves by family and friends as if she has a mental condition because of “ the moth man” . I found it very sad all that was kept from her about her childhood and the lengths she had to go through to try and unravel the truth for herself. At times random things in the story seemed to drag on. Then Moth man would pop up totally taking me out of the story.
I was happy for her as she found someone who wanted to be with her and help her unravel all the strangeness from so long ago. By the end it felt like she was more herself , was able to build a better relationship with her daughter and stand up to her basement loving husband.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

Cassie, a writing teacher in her fifties is at a crossroads in her life. He husband a disgraced meteorologist has permanently moved to their basement due to his weather phobia, her daughter has just left for college and she has adopted a new puppy due to her feeling so alone. She has also had enough of her husbands self absorption and decides to go on a road trip to visit the bridge in West Virginia where her parents had died. Cassie has had questions about her parents death on the bridge collapse all her life but the aunt and uncle who raised her would shut down the topic any time she brought it up. Cassie wants answers and she is finally going to get them. Thus begins this wonderful story of a woman finding herself, finding new hope and new love. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and all it's quirky characters. The author has a wonderful voice and I love her writing style, honest and slightly humorous. I highly recommend this novel and the narrator of the audio book I listened to was phenomenal. 5 solid stars.

Engaging and entertaining. A recommended purchase in all formats for collections where women's fiction is popular.

ℝ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 𝔽𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕥: 𝒜𝓊𝒹𝒾𝑜𝒷𝑜𝑜𝓀

ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨: (𝟐.𝟓 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩). 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮; 𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲, 𝐈 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐩. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲-𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝑜 𝒮𝓊𝓈𝒶𝓃 𝒞𝑜𝓁𝓁, 𝐻𝒶𝓇𝓅𝑒𝓇 𝑀𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝒜𝓊𝒹𝒾𝑜𝒷𝑜𝑜𝓀, & 𝒩𝑒𝓉𝒢𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒜𝑅𝒞! 𝒜𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝓅𝒾𝓃𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝑜𝓌𝓃.

thanks to netgalley and harper collins focus for offering me this advanced audio book, which will be published tomorrow! i was all over the place while listening to this book. perhaps because the book itself was all over the place. i loved the locales of maryland, d.c. and west virginia. all familiar to me. and WV beloved. i live 20 minutes over the border into PA from WV and it truly is a magical state. there is historical fiction at play in this book. about the silver bridge accident in 1967 that took the lives of many people, including the main character's parents. the narrator, jane oppenheimer, has a fabulous voice and she kept me going, even when i wasn't loving the story. if you're into cryptids (Bigfoot, The Loch Ness Monster) you will love this because it is about the Mothman. i'm not. so that part of the story was difficult/boring for me. but there was plenty more to dig into. there is a ton of dysfunctional nuclear and extended family dynamics at play which really underscore the entire story, however subtly they appear. there are fabulous dogs, a mix of husky and labrador, which pleases me to no end as my own dog is one of those. we call her a "huskador" but the book calls them "luskys". there is some lovely romance, too, in the form of a white knight who studies cryptids. oops, the main character is cassie. she is forgetful and clumsy and legitimately confused about her place in this world. she's definitely going through a mid life crisis and her husband lives in the basement. oy. there are writers and scholars and weathermen and NPR shows and a big snowstorm and christmas and a hibachi steak house. it is a seemingly free for all that comes together beautifully in the end.

This book will either mesmerize you or make you bored. It is a weird book. Thankfully, for me I was completely mesmerized by the main character, We first meet Cassie as she is driving across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge (I used to live right by it) so of course I was interested. However bonus points for loving this book if you are a dog lover as her dog plays highly in the story. We meet moths and "mothmen" and radio and TV personalities and meterologists and cryptozoologists. Or something like that.

I loved the narrator - I just felt completely drawn into the story and didn't know WHY I actually cared about this person but I did. There is an element of mystery that helps move the plot, as well as some possibly romance and of course more PUPPIES. I listened to the audiobook and I would highly recommend that option if you can. First book in a while that I've reviewed that I actually looked forward to reading (listening).

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC #sponsored

This was a really cute book. The characters were very relatable, and fun to follow. I found it really easy and quick to read, finding it very sweet. It brings up so many common family issues, infidelity, broken marriage, generational trauma and more. It was so relatable and brought up the importance of open communication with family and friends. The narrator Jane Oppenheimer did a great job sharing the story of Cassie and her family. Thank you to Susan Coll, Harper Collins Focus publishing, and NetGalley for allowing me to read this heartwarming story.

The first third of this book almost made me put it down. Not because it was poorly written and not because the story was in anyway bad, it just wasn't my vibe.
I listened on and boy am I glad I did. This book is great, sure, there is an odd turn of phrase here and there but overall it is a very interesting and creative book to read.
I now want to watch the Mothman movie and I am all about the cryptids now.
It's classed as Jewish fiction in some readong circles, but I feel that is only referenced once or twice and adds nothing to the plot itself.

I really enjoyed "Real Life and Other Fictions" by Susan Coll, with great narration by Jane Oppenheimer. This is a quirky book that will appeal to readers who have dealt with family secrets and unexplained stories about things that happened when very young. The main character Cassie is looking for answers about her parents dying in a car accident in West Virginia when she was very young. The story connects to the myth of the Mothman (which I was not familiar with) as well as family relationships in middle age and even a new love interest. Loved reading about Cassie's experiences in rural West Virginia over the holidays. I also loved the dogs / puppies as characters. It took me a while to get into the book, but once I was engaged, I loved it and finished it quickly. Highly recommended, again especially for those dealing with questions about their family's past. Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for an eARC.

I listened to the audiobook, and while the narrator was fine, I struggled to enjoy this book. The main character, Cassie, was unlikable and made baffling decisions, like risking her puppy's safety to trap a moth. The writing style was overly complex and pretentious, with unnecessary big words.

Initially, this was a 1-star read, but I pushed through because I received the audiobook from NetGalley. It did get slightly better, but overall, it was a strange and unsatisfying read. The title was also generic and didn’t reflect the moth-centric plot. This book might appeal to some, but it wasn’t for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to listen to an ALC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was not really sure what to expect with this one, and I definitely had NOT heard of the Mothman before, so...this one was very different to say the least.
Cassie is a 50ish teacher, who was orphaned at the age of 2, when her parents car went off a bridge. Weird thing though, is that people in the area were talking about a giant moth-like man in the area at the time. Cassie was adopted by her aunt and uncle, and although she repeatedly asks them about what happened with her parents, they NEVER talk about it.
Additionally, she is married to a weatherman who cannot see or do anything beyond weather! And, he is in a downward spiral... And...he now lives in their basement!
One more thing...her daughter began college, and she is now an empty nester...

So, she decides that once and for all she is going to find out what happened to her parents. So she goes on a road trip, alone, a couple of days before Christmas...
And that is what the book is about!

We explore small towns, hype surrounding the bridge collapse, dogs, friends, neighbors and secrets...all leading to the impossible ending!!

Did I mention the dog(s)??

3.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 💫 for me, rounded up to 4, as this was really out there, but I did enjoy it!!

Thanks to #NetGalley and #HarperCollinsMuse for an ARC of the audiobook which is due to be released on 5/21/24, in exchange for an honest review.

#RealLifeAndOtherFictions by #SusanColl and narrated nicely by #JaneOppenheimer.

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Thanks so much for reading! And if you ‘liked’ my review, please share with your friends!! 📚⭐️

I don't think I was the right audience for this one. Literary fiction is hit or miss for me, but I thought it sounded really interesting and the cover is so cute that I snagged it-- I just had a hard time connecting with he characters and the story.

If you like stories of self discovery and books about women 30+, I bet you would love this one!

The beginning of this really had me captivated up to the 90% mark, really enjoyed it and couldn’t stop listening to it, the last 10% fell a bit flat but it made sense so I understand why what happened, happened. Maybe I just loved the mystery ect. I’ll be watching moths from on…

I was not the right reader for this book. I usually flock to stories about women's self discovery journeys and this one sounded right up my alley. Unfortunately, I never connected with the main character making it difficult for me to fully appreciate the author's work. I think I will retry this book in the future as the premise is unique.

I found Jane Oppenheimer's narration to be outstanding as usual. Her voice is beautifully modulated and well suited to this type of audiobook. Many times it was her narration that held my interest and kept me listening.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Focus for the opportunity to listen to this advance copy in exchange for my unbiased review.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was fine. I really wanted to like this book but the main character so unlikable that I couldn’t. I did not enjoy the author’s writing style either. I’m sure this will be a favorite for some, but this was not the book for me.

Real Life and Other Fictions is such an interesting literary fiction book with a bit of mystery and romance mixed in to a unique story!

Cassie is in her 50s and newly divorced from her peculiar husband. She’s setting out on a road trip with her dog to find answers. Cassie was orphaned at the age of 2 and hasn’t gotten the answers she craves in regard to her parents’ death. Their death was under bizarre circumstances and family is attempting to hide the past. She meets people along the way that add more mystery and interest to the plot, I didn’t even know what a cryptozoologist was before this! The whole journey of unraveling secrets was not only interesting but managed to make me laugh a few times even with the serious subject matter. This book wasn’t what I thought it would be based on the cover but I thoroughly enjoyed the story, characters, and writing!

This audiobook was narrated by Jane Oppenheimer. She did a great job and kept me engaged throughout the whole book!

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Susan Coll, and Harper Collins for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. This publishes on May 21st!

I have posted my review on Goodreads, in my Facebook book club, and will rave about this on TikTok on publishing day!

I'm going to be honest. In the beginning this was a 1-star read for me. I actively disliked Cassie, the protagonist. I mean, who gets out of her car on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to pick up a cereal box so she can trap a moth that's in her car? And who doesn't pay attention to the fact that there's a puppy in the car with you who could get out? Which, of course, she does. Someone TSTL, that's who.

And at the same time Coll is throwing $10 words at us when simpler ones would work better. So we got things like this:

We clink our receptacles.
What? The word 'cups' doesn't work for you?

And here's a doozy: Before his bravado recapitulated to his terror. WTF?

Under normal circumstances it would've been a DNF for me at that point. The protagonist was unlikeable and the language pretentious. But I had gotten the audiobook from NetGalley and felt like I needed to keep on going. So I told myself to picture it all as a fevered dream, and to attempt to cast aside my earlier negative reactions. And it did get better. But at the end of the day, this is a very strange book. I'm a big fan of women's fiction, quirky circumstances, and books about dogs. But I'm not quite sure this was a good kind of quirky. And I'm not sure I particularly liked it.

What I do know is that I'm thoroughly sick of moths for the moment. (And I generally like them!) And I also think that the title is sooooo generic. Shouldn't it have something to do with moths?

Going off the cover I was expecting some silly romance book with a meet cute involving the puppy. The book is way more complex.

Cassie has lived her whole life being told not to question the death of her parents. This has led to secrecy, confusion and loneliness.

I love how the author had so many intricate connections unfold as the story was told. I’m sure other readers did the same as me and guessed at things along the way.

I was not expecting any Mothman stuff because that community is so niche. But it was done well. Whimsical in a sense but also practical.

I loved the narrator. Extremely calming and peaceful to listen to. Also I have puppy fever even if Luna was a terror.

I would definitely read more from the author! Thanks to NetGalley, Susan Coll, and Harper Muse. I have written this review voluntarily.

I'm not really sure what to think about this book, I didn't hate it but I also didn't like it. The beginning of the book really dragged but it started to pick up more around the halfway point where we learn more about the Mothman but then it just went back to being boring. While I enjoyed the journey of self discovery that Cassie was on I felt like the overall story wasn't interesting to me. I wanted more about the Mothman.

I listened to the audiobook and I had a hard time paying attention to the story and tended to zone out more than I wanted. The narrator did a good job but the story itself just didn't keep my attention.