It's Not All Downhill from Here

I am a fan of Terry McMillan but this wasn't a “I can't put this book down” sort. The novel's protagonist is Loretha Curry, 69 years old, who has a successful business, loving husband, and 4 lifelong friends. But she is not without her troubles. It's a bit of a slog because all of these people have a voice in the book and, while easy to keep them apart, it took a while to really capture my attention. The friendship bond between the four women becomes more and more evident as each one's struggle unfolds. Then the novel starts to shine as the bonds among them unfolded. Overall, it was a good read.

This is my first Terry McMillan book, and I read this as part of my book club. Based on the other reviews, it sounds like her other books are better.

I have to say, I had a really hard time caring about any of these characters, especially our main character Loretha. She lies a LOT and is a constant ATM machine for her friends and family. She also doesn't really seem to have much growth in this book. At the end she finally starts taking her diabetes seriously but how do we know it will stick?

One thing that rubbed me the wrong way was how mental illness was handled in the book. As someone who has dealt with a family member being mentally ill, I thought the portrayal of it was a little unrealistic. I felt the message was “if you've got enough money, eventually everyone will come around and everything works itself out”. Which, may be true, but doesn't really give much hope to the rest of us peasants that can't just send their family member to a rehab clinic for 28 days x 2.

I felt like I was reading about the “lifestyles of the rich and famous” a lot in this book, and outside of Loretha losing her husband I felt she didn't really have much struggle. Even when her store is robbed, it's not a big deal because she has insurance.

As others have said, I do NOT recommend listening to this book on audiobook. The narrator is very lackluster and they really should have gotten someone else to read it.