Snap, Cackle, and Pop by Carol Kearney

Title: Snap, Cackle, and Pop
Author: Carol Kearney
Published: April 2016 by Wallace Publishing
Genre: Fiction
How I got the book: I received a free digital copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Summary:

Snap, Cackle and Pop introduces us to Cathy, a 54-year-old woman who has everything her heart desires. A big house, a new car and a husband who adores her. But what does Cathy do when the life she knows and loves is destroyed in eight minutes?

Thrown into turmoil, Cathy has no choice but to go back home to live with her elderly parents, Stan and Joan. There she finds herself back in her old bedroom with the poster of Donny Osmond still tacked to the wall and a glitter ball still hanging from the ceiling.

My Review:

When the publicist reached out to me about this one, I wanted to say yes not only because the novel sounded like an interesting romance-get-back-on-your-feet type of book, but also because the author has passed away recently. I read and reviewed this book in her honor.

We follow Cathy as her husband, Tom, divorces her after 30-something years of marriage. They have and adult daughter together and it turns out Tom had been lying to her for 13-plus years. He was living a double life which causes Cathy to lose her home and car and forced to move in with her elderly parents, who are pretty much crazy.

Cathy becomes depressed as she wonders why Tom wouldn’t want her. She feels like a bad wife, she’s self-conscious about her weight, and she doesn’t want to be living under the same roof as her bickering parents. Still, that’s pretty much all there is to it.

The book is about 300-pages long and it’s not until about page 215 that things start to turn around. We learn a lot about Cathy and her life, but it takes her a really long time to get over things and finally move on. Because of that, there isn’t much “plot” going on.

I felt as though the characters were well-crafted. Cathy goes through a mourning period with her divorce and it isn’t until something drastic happens to her that she realizes she’s moping around too much and needs to change things. It’s a good turning point, but for the first 200-or-so pages, Cathy just whined most of the time, which got a bit old.

Tom was the perfect antagonist. He was nice enough, but you still feel so much hatred towards him. Louise, their daughter, and Jane, Cathy’s friend, were great additions to help give Cathy those extra pushes.

Cathy’s parents made the story, I think. They’re elderly and a tad crazy and they added a lot of comedy to the writing. Cathy was not only trying to get a grip on her own life, but she was trying to keep an eye on her parents at the same time.

The writing style was simple and easy to read. Most sentences were short and to the point. However, I felt as though there was a lot “telling” in the story and not enough “showing.”

While the beginning was pretty slow with Cathy feeling sorry for herself, the ending finally came and it went by too fast. Cathy meets a new guy and things seem to work out, but we don’t see enough of this new guy to get to know him and really feel happy for Cathy that she’s moved on from Tom.

This was a good read. I enjoyed the characters a lot and Cathy has a great background story. My only complaint was that she was whiny for so long and when the book had to end somewhere, everything came at me at once within the last 80 pages or so.

While it was just okay for me, it’s still a funny read and an interesting twist on the typical “romance,” so I would recommend it to anyone who reads the blurb and thinks, “This sounds good.”

Snap, Cackle, and Pop by Carol Kearney gets…
3 out of 5 stars

Favorite Quote:

“Constance chimes in every corner of the room so that no negative spirits can get in. The problem is they are already in and living inside me.” –Carol Kearney, Snap, Cackle, and Pop

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