Review of A Week's Worth
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Celina Kilpatrick
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Review of A Week's Worth
[Following is a volunteer review of "A Week's Worth" by Thyme Lewis.]
This book doesn't hold a lot of appeal for me. I felt a bit bored and confused during the first half of the book. The author tended to go into great detail about things that were not relevant to the story. There are a few chapters that do not seem to fit into the rest of the story, and the dialogue between characters can be challenging at times. I find the conclusion to be the most positive aspect of the whole story. The plot took an unexpected turn, making it both exciting and suspenseful. While the crime/thriller aspects of the story were impressive, the overall story was lacking. Overall, I rate A Week's Worth by Thyme Lewis as 2 out of 5.
Throughout the book, there are many instances where too many details are added that felt unneeded and didn't contribute anything to the story. Chapter 15 includes a description of a smoothie. “The smoothies came and, they both concurred, were delicious. The consistency was thinner than Mac liked but full of flavor. But they were healthy, thirst quenching, and loaded. Coconut water was the base.” What is the reason for identifying coconut water as the base? This information is not necessary. In another chapter, we are given a complete list of all the ingredients Mac is using to prepare a smoothie for his mother. These details about smoothies make me feel like I could make my own smoothie at home. An entire paragraph is devoted solely to facts regarding coconut water. It's unclear to me why these need to be described in such detail. It appears irrelevant and distracting from the plot.
At times, the dialogue between the characters felt awkward and unnatural. Chapter 14 is an instance of this, Mac and an employee at a smoothie shop have a lengthy argument about bananas. I found this conversation to be a bit absurd and peculiar. Another instance of this is a conversation between Mac and his mother. The conversation started out talking about her paintings, then randomly switched to COVID, then to his mother’s health and poor condition of her feet, back to painting again. There was no connection between the topics. It was a confusing conversation that I’m still struggling to comprehend. Sometimes it felt like eves dropping on strangers. You get bits and pieces of each topic they discuss as they jump from one subject to another, sometimes they started in the middle of a conversation. Without context or knowing their history, these conversations have no meaning.
A few chapters in the book appear disjointed and unclear. The beginning of chapter 6 introduces a new setting and characters that haven't been mentioned yet in the story. It opens with two doctors chatting in a medical building about a terminal diagnosis, which I assume is one of theirs. This part of the chapter lacks context or names to make it relevant to the rest of the story. It wasn’t until I had finished reading the book and reread this part of chapter 6, that I was able to connect it to a character named Teddy introduced in chapter 30. In my opinion, the entire beginning of chapter 6 could have been omitted. It’s confusing and doesn’t add anything the story. Although this book was okay to read to pass the time, it's not something I would be eager to share with a friend.
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A Week's Worth
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
This book doesn't hold a lot of appeal for me. I felt a bit bored and confused during the first half of the book. The author tended to go into great detail about things that were not relevant to the story. There are a few chapters that do not seem to fit into the rest of the story, and the dialogue between characters can be challenging at times. I find the conclusion to be the most positive aspect of the whole story. The plot took an unexpected turn, making it both exciting and suspenseful. While the crime/thriller aspects of the story were impressive, the overall story was lacking. Overall, I rate A Week's Worth by Thyme Lewis as 2 out of 5.
Throughout the book, there are many instances where too many details are added that felt unneeded and didn't contribute anything to the story. Chapter 15 includes a description of a smoothie. “The smoothies came and, they both concurred, were delicious. The consistency was thinner than Mac liked but full of flavor. But they were healthy, thirst quenching, and loaded. Coconut water was the base.” What is the reason for identifying coconut water as the base? This information is not necessary. In another chapter, we are given a complete list of all the ingredients Mac is using to prepare a smoothie for his mother. These details about smoothies make me feel like I could make my own smoothie at home. An entire paragraph is devoted solely to facts regarding coconut water. It's unclear to me why these need to be described in such detail. It appears irrelevant and distracting from the plot.
At times, the dialogue between the characters felt awkward and unnatural. Chapter 14 is an instance of this, Mac and an employee at a smoothie shop have a lengthy argument about bananas. I found this conversation to be a bit absurd and peculiar. Another instance of this is a conversation between Mac and his mother. The conversation started out talking about her paintings, then randomly switched to COVID, then to his mother’s health and poor condition of her feet, back to painting again. There was no connection between the topics. It was a confusing conversation that I’m still struggling to comprehend. Sometimes it felt like eves dropping on strangers. You get bits and pieces of each topic they discuss as they jump from one subject to another, sometimes they started in the middle of a conversation. Without context or knowing their history, these conversations have no meaning.
A few chapters in the book appear disjointed and unclear. The beginning of chapter 6 introduces a new setting and characters that haven't been mentioned yet in the story. It opens with two doctors chatting in a medical building about a terminal diagnosis, which I assume is one of theirs. This part of the chapter lacks context or names to make it relevant to the rest of the story. It wasn’t until I had finished reading the book and reread this part of chapter 6, that I was able to connect it to a character named Teddy introduced in chapter 30. In my opinion, the entire beginning of chapter 6 could have been omitted. It’s confusing and doesn’t add anything the story. Although this book was okay to read to pass the time, it's not something I would be eager to share with a friend.
******
A Week's Worth
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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Latest Review: The Legacy of Job's Wife by Cynthia Koelker
