Review: The Smart One by Jennifer Close

The Smart One by Jennifer Close

Publisher: Knopf 

Pages: 352 

Format: eARC 

Buy the Book: Amazon 

Goodreads:  Weezy Coffey’s parents had always told her she was the smart one, while her sister was the pretty one. “Maureen will marry well,” their mother said, but instead it was Weezy who married well, to a kind man and good father. Weezy often wonders if she did this on purpose—thwarting expectations just to prove her parents wrong.

As the Coffey children’s various missteps drive them back to their childhood home, Weezy suddenly finds her empty nest crowded and her children in full-scale regression. Martha is moping like a teenager, Claire is stumbling home drunk in the wee hours, and Max and Cleo are skulking around the basement, guarding a secret of their own. With radiant style and a generous spirit, The Smart One is a story about the ways in which we never really grow up, and the place where we return when things go drastically awry: home.


Kritters Thoughts:  If you have a sibling, have you ever been compared or compared yourself to them?  I don't know if there is a soul out there that doesn't feel a little sibling rivalry.  The Smart One by Jennifer Close has two generations of sibling rivalry and what can happen when a family of adult children are all brought back home for an extended amount of time.

This book hit very close to home for me because even though my sister and I are 4.5 half years apart in age and although we were never in the same school, I think my sister had issues following me in our small town to the small high school where I had definitely left a mark (a good mark!).  There have been a few moments in life where she did things first and being a first born, there may have been a moment of jealousy on my part, but in the end we are both excited for each other and would help each other out in a heartbeat.  

This is the second book by Jennifer Close and I definitely liked this one.  The characters felt real and the issues that they were each dealing with were real.  I related to a few of the characters at different times, so I cared where they all ended up and what conclusions they would all find.  I think readers of all ages would love this book.

Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

Ebook 2013 Challenge: 28 out of 50

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Edelweiss.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.