Review: Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

“You’re bored. And I’m going to let you in on a little secret about life. You think it’s boring now? Well, it only gets more boring. The sooner you learn it’s ON YOU to make life interesting, the better off you’ll be.”

Title: Where'd You Go, Bernadette

Author: Maria Semple

Genre: Contemporary, Comedic Mystery

Rating: A-

Recommended For: Fans of smart, witty, writing with a splash of mystery

Source: Library e-book

One-sentence review: A very colorful, well-written (albeit long) story of a fifteen-year-old girl's plight to find her eccentric and missing mother after a series of strange events.

TBR It: Goodreads

Buy It: Amazon

Where'd You Go, Bernadette is one of those huge-books-of-the-year-they-came-out that I missed the boat on but it's cute cover kept calling my name (And don't act like you've never picked a book by its cover!). Right from the start the clever writing and wit reeled me in and delivered a wonderful conclusion to the year as my last book of 2014.

Maria Semple's critically acclaimed novel is the story about 15-year-old Bee's hunt to find her mother after she mysteriously disappears before their family trip to Antarctica. This book is divided into different sections that each consist of clues Bee has accumulated to help her solve her mother's mystery. From emails between her mother and her remote personal assistant to emails between mothers at school who hate Bernadette, Bee has everything she needs to solve the mystery of where her mother went - but can she? Is her mom even able to be found?

This book is really long. That's not a terrible thing because the writing is so well done and it kept me laughing despite the serious content of a missing person. However, if it weren't for Semple's witty writing, I would have probably not finished this book. It takes a really long time to even know the circumstances that lead to Bernadette being missing and some people might not have the patience for that. I took a few breaks reading this book because of it, but all that said, I'm glad that I finished!

This book is so well-crafted that I feel terrible ranting about it's length and the time it takes to get anywhere. It is still entertaining, although the book at the end barely resembles the book that you began reading. The pieces Semple puts together to bring a final product is worth the effort. I especially enjoyed the voices in this book; from the crazy private school moms and Bernadette herself, to Bee's Microsoft exec dad and Bee herself. Everyone stands out so well which contributes to the high entertainment of the novel.

While it's a long book that might not be for everyone's attention span, I'm glad I finished readig Where'd You Go Bernadette because it was a well-written and thoroughly entertaining novel that's unlike anything you might expect. I haven't been reading a ton of Contemporary lately, so that might also contribute to my lack of attention span. ;)