Review of Cooperative Lives
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David Isaji
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Review of Cooperative Lives
[Following is a volunteer review of "Cooperative Lives" by Patrick Finegan.]
Most of the time, people living in big cities get buried in their busy lives, that their ties to the neighborhood are friendly but shaky. While most of them know at least two of their neighbors' names, their acquaintances usually end there. Most of them hardly do simple favors for their neighbors, and even fewer have visited or invited a neighbor over. In his debut novel, Patrick Finegan captures how neighbors' lives can intertwine. Cooperative Lives by Patrick Finegan revolves around the lives of the tenants of a high-end apartment in New York. The tenants are going through different challenges in their lives.
At the beginning of the book, we get introduced to the story of a couple, Wallace and Hanni. They get divorced after the death of their daughter — Alya. Alya succumbed to Leukemia because of professional dereliction by a doctor. For some weird reason, Hanni blames herself for Alya's demise. This family was friends with another family in the apartment; the family of Jack and Susan. Jack is seventeen years older than Susan — they have a daughter whose name is Melissa. Apart from these two families, most of the other tenants in the apartment building don't know each other; well, not until several incidents happened and secrets got exposed.
When I started reading this book, I wasn't ready for the many exhilarating twists and turns. Honestly, the twists and turns are what made this book engrossing. I kept marveling at the wittiness of the author and how he totally subverted my expectations. The intentions of the characters were not always clear — some of them had ulterior motives. While reading this book, you cannot guess who the bad guy is. Well, the ending was mind-numbing. I wish I had a way of talking about it without giving away spoilers.
The author did an applaudable job in detailing the struggles of the characters. He fleshed out their motivations, their desires, and the sources of their conflicts. For instance, we get to know about Hanni's upbringing and how it affected her adult life. There were detailed backstories of characters as the story alternates from their present lives to their past. The characters' prior experiences helped me get a more profound understanding of their current conflicts. The characters themselves were well-developed. It was easy to empathize with them and relate to the different struggles they were going through. Alya's ailment made me sad.
There is nothing that irked me about this book. It was exceptionally well-edited; I did not detect any errors while reading it. Generally, I had a great reading experience. I award this book a rating of 4 out of 4 stars. Any adult who is a fan of fiction that offers plenty of twists and turns will enjoy reading this novel. It contains profanity and sexual scenes; therefore, it is not commendable to young readers.
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Cooperative Lives
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Most of the time, people living in big cities get buried in their busy lives, that their ties to the neighborhood are friendly but shaky. While most of them know at least two of their neighbors' names, their acquaintances usually end there. Most of them hardly do simple favors for their neighbors, and even fewer have visited or invited a neighbor over. In his debut novel, Patrick Finegan captures how neighbors' lives can intertwine. Cooperative Lives by Patrick Finegan revolves around the lives of the tenants of a high-end apartment in New York. The tenants are going through different challenges in their lives.
At the beginning of the book, we get introduced to the story of a couple, Wallace and Hanni. They get divorced after the death of their daughter — Alya. Alya succumbed to Leukemia because of professional dereliction by a doctor. For some weird reason, Hanni blames herself for Alya's demise. This family was friends with another family in the apartment; the family of Jack and Susan. Jack is seventeen years older than Susan — they have a daughter whose name is Melissa. Apart from these two families, most of the other tenants in the apartment building don't know each other; well, not until several incidents happened and secrets got exposed.
When I started reading this book, I wasn't ready for the many exhilarating twists and turns. Honestly, the twists and turns are what made this book engrossing. I kept marveling at the wittiness of the author and how he totally subverted my expectations. The intentions of the characters were not always clear — some of them had ulterior motives. While reading this book, you cannot guess who the bad guy is. Well, the ending was mind-numbing. I wish I had a way of talking about it without giving away spoilers.
The author did an applaudable job in detailing the struggles of the characters. He fleshed out their motivations, their desires, and the sources of their conflicts. For instance, we get to know about Hanni's upbringing and how it affected her adult life. There were detailed backstories of characters as the story alternates from their present lives to their past. The characters' prior experiences helped me get a more profound understanding of their current conflicts. The characters themselves were well-developed. It was easy to empathize with them and relate to the different struggles they were going through. Alya's ailment made me sad.
There is nothing that irked me about this book. It was exceptionally well-edited; I did not detect any errors while reading it. Generally, I had a great reading experience. I award this book a rating of 4 out of 4 stars. Any adult who is a fan of fiction that offers plenty of twists and turns will enjoy reading this novel. It contains profanity and sexual scenes; therefore, it is not commendable to young readers.
******
Cooperative Lives
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: The Maestro Monologue by Rob White
