The Last Romantics

This lands somewhere between a beach read and more serious fiction; there were certainly some beautiful descriptive scenes, and it had a bit of that can't-put-it-down quality, but ultimately it's a pretty standard, sometimes slightly cliche tale of a family tragedy.

The book was so close to connecting with me emotionally but failed, due to not focusing enough time on characters and the general framing of the story not being developed enough. It's obvious that Conklin is going for a Woolf-type of structure with characters being connected through a death that affects them all, but the framing is too erratic to truly enhance the themes in the way that Woolf does. The attempt to juggle many themes across a large timeframe is intriguing but doesn't ever feel developed enough. I do like how Conklin actually tries to reach for that goal, despite the general sense of wasted opportunity. I prefer an author trying to aim high rather than just stick to detached prose and a straightforward narrative.

3.5 Stars

The Last Romantics is a book about love. It focuses on one family, The Skinners, made up of Renee, Caroline, Joe, and Fiona and their mother, affectionately called Noni. We're told much of the story through Fiona's perspective as the lives of the Skinners are unraveled by their father's death and their mother's 3-year depression, and how the family attempts to stitch themselves back up again.

I want to start off by saying that adult contemporary is not normally my jam. I read this book as it was the Barnes and Noble Book Club pick for the month and I run the event every month at my store, and it was the first book that I've annotated probably since my high school years. I found myself engaged, reacting to the story, making predictions, etc. So, it wasn't an unenjoyable read in the slightest and it was a good book, but it just wasn't my favorite.

What kept this from being a 5-star book, or even a 4-star book, was that the climax was kind of a let down. There's all this build up for for 250 pages for something concerning one of the siblings (not going to say it out of respect for keeping spoilers out of my review) and then once it happened it was... a major let down. There were other elements as well that were not really explained and felt kind of out of place– such as Fiona working with a Climate Change organization and then the situation with Luna just felt so... incomplete?