≡ Download The Last Romantics A Novel Tara Conklin 9780062358202 Books

The Last Romantics A Novel Tara Conklin 9780062358202 Books

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The Last Romantics A Novel Tara Conklin 9780062358202 Books

Layers upon layers of unforgettable moments of a family who is destined to survive. This is Tara Conklin’s novel THE LAST ROMANTICS. Children who raise themselves, who find their places, spread their wings, injure them, fly away, and try to return to the nest to resume their order. But we know that life isn’t so simple and this sweeping tale of a family who is doing their best to hold it together shows us with the tightest of bonds just how to be as one until they slip when truths are withheld.

A language all their own. A code, if you will, that seems will never be broken. It begins after their father dies and their mother takes a break, ‘the pause,’ as they refer to it. A brother who is a shining star in his three sisters' eyes. A sister who has seen too much too young, who takes on a role that robs her of her own childhood. Another sister who is frightened by her shadow withdraws from the life she is meant to live. And, yet another, whose armor is made of words.

THE LAST ROMANTICS connects and inspires. Conklin takes you to a vivid, not always beautiful, world that the Skinners inhabit and shares the lessons that they learn, the moments that are seared forever from their childhood, the love that runs so deep between siblings, the hurt that you hope is reparable, and the knowledge that families are imperfect.


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The Last Romantics A Novel Tara Conklin 9780062358202 Books Reviews

The beginning of this novel showed more promise than it delivered. I enjoyed the opening and looked forward to 102 year old Fiona's story about her poem 'Luna' and its inspiration. What followed, however, was a family saga that I found disappointing and lacking in character depth.

The family's story begins with a funeral and I was unable to suspend belief when a child is permitted to go throughout the house breaking everything in sight with a fireplace poker. "It soon became clear that anything was allowed when your father has died." There were no limits set, no boundaries and, as Fiona the child states, "The freedom was exhausting."

Had the writing been better who's to say whether I would have been more entranced by the narrative. As it was, I became bored and found the reading to be burdensome.
The family had to move to a smaller house and a not-so-nice neighborhood and to fend for themselves because they only saw their mother when she decided to venture out from her bedroom.

Renee was the oldest, Caroline was next in line, Joe was the only boy, and Fiona was the baby when it all happened. They called this time their mother was absent The Pause. The Pause went on for a few years.

The children did well for a while, but then things started to get tough. Renee couldn’t take the responsibility, and the other children couldn’t do without her. They started going their separate ways and weren’t as close knit as they had been until one day another adult stepped in, got them some help, and got their mother Antonia out of bed.

Things looked up after that, and the family unit worked better together as everyone grew up.

We learn of what happened to each family member whether good or bad. They all loved each other and were there for each other.

I was disappointed in this book even though it has Ms. Conklin's beautiful, detailed writing.

THE LAST ROMANTICS was not an appealing read or of interest, and I struggled to read it in its entirety especially since I LOVED her first book.

I know I am in the minority for opinions. 2/5

This book was given to me as an ARC by the publisher via NETGALLEY and in print in exchange for an honest review.
{4.5 stars} I barely remember reading The House Girl, but just looked back and saw that I gave it 2 stars (which is super rare for me!), so clearly I wasn't a fan. I'm so glad I didn't judge Conklin's new book based on that because I absolutely loved this one! I'm generally a fan of books that explore family dynamics, especially if we can follow the characters from childhood through adulthood, and that's exactly what we do in this novel.

I admit, at first I thought this book was going to be in the realm of sci-fi. After all, it begins in the year 2079, which sounded so crazy to me. But in the year 2079, I will be 96 years old, so it's totally possible for me to live that long. The book's main character, Fiona Skinner, is 102 years old in 2079 and a renowned poet giving a talk on her work and inspiration for it. During her talk, we learn of a girl named Luna who is clearly important, though we're not quite sure why.

From there, we jump back and forth in time to learn of Fiona's childhood with her three siblings and single mother. Each sibling is so different and it was really interesting to understand how circumstances from their childhood affected each of them in such different ways all the way to adulthood. Likely because she is the narrator (and probably because I'm a youngest child, too), I felt a special connection to Fiona. She's an open and trustworthy narrator and so very insightful about her family and relationships. Yes, we eventually learn who Luna is and why she's so important, but I won't give any spoilers here.

I did feel the book dragged on a bit too long at the end and though I was totally engrossed for most of it, I started to lose a little bit of interest at the end. That's why this book wasn't a full 5 stars for me. But I still highly recommend this for anyone who loves incredibly well-written books about family dynamics that, in my opinion, are a lot deeper and more engrossing than books like The Nest.
I very much enjoyed reading the last romantics which kept me interested on every page (and up too late 2 nights in a row finishing it). The writing was beautiful w/out being pretentious, and I found all of the characters nuanced and human. I cared what happened to each of them.
Layers upon layers of unforgettable moments of a family who is destined to survive. This is Tara Conklin’s novel THE LAST ROMANTICS. Children who raise themselves, who find their places, spread their wings, injure them, fly away, and try to return to the nest to resume their order. But we know that life isn’t so simple and this sweeping tale of a family who is doing their best to hold it together shows us with the tightest of bonds just how to be as one until they slip when truths are withheld.

A language all their own. A code, if you will, that seems will never be broken. It begins after their father dies and their mother takes a break, ‘the pause,’ as they refer to it. A brother who is a shining star in his three sisters' eyes. A sister who has seen too much too young, who takes on a role that robs her of her own childhood. Another sister who is frightened by her shadow withdraws from the life she is meant to live. And, yet another, whose armor is made of words.

THE LAST ROMANTICS connects and inspires. Conklin takes you to a vivid, not always beautiful, world that the Skinners inhabit and shares the lessons that they learn, the moments that are seared forever from their childhood, the love that runs so deep between siblings, the hurt that you hope is reparable, and the knowledge that families are imperfect.