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There are currently 73 member reviews
for The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise
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Laura P. (Atlanta, GA)
Road trip!
Colleen Oakley's Thelma-and Louise-tinged road trip novel involves two quirky characters -- 58-year-old Louise Wilt has just been released from rehab after hip surgery, and needs some help around the house. 21-year-old Tanner Quimby, a Northwestern University women's soccer star out of school because she broke her leg falling off a 2-story deck at a party, needs a job, so she can save the money she needs to return to school.
Louise is a stereotypical crotchety old lady, at least in Tanner's eyes, and Louise sees Tanner as a thoughtless, cell-phone and video-game=obsessed, junk-food-eating millennial. Then Louise gets a phone call out of her past, and she needs to get out of town. She offers Tanner a substantial bonus to drive her to California, and off they go. Over the course of an extraordinary road trip, these two characters evolve in dimension and understanding of one another in touching, humorous, and engaging ways.
The light mystery that underlies their trip has a big surprise ending, but it is not really the focus of the story, which is at heart a tale of true female friendship and commitment.
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Beth M. (New York, NY)
A fun, unexpected, charming read!
This story started out slow but once their "adventure" began I became really engaged. Tanner and Louise are brought together almost by default. Louise needs help with driving and errands after she broke her hip. Tanner needs a job and a place to live after she broke her leg which ended her promising college soccer scholarship. This story involves a jewlery heist that happened 40 years ago. Louise gets a call which causes her to pack up and leave town taking Tanner with her. The characters are so good and their banter is entertaining. The author does a great job dropping clues that become important in the end. I kept reading trying to solve the mystery while also routing for Louise and Tanner's unlikely friendship. This book has a mystery, a "Thelma and Louise" road trip, and lessons in not judging people by the way they look. Read this fun ride.
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Deb C.
A fun, heartwarming read!
The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise has been aptly compared to Thelma and Louise and Midnight Run. It tells the story of an unlikely duo--21-year-old Tanner and 84-year-old Louise on the run from Florida to California. As the trip unfolds, we learn more about what brought the two protagonists to where they are today. I thought the author did a great job of doling out information about the women's pasts in a way that made me re-evaluate my initial impressions of them and showed the women to be complex, fully-realized characters. The book was a light read but also explored some deep issues, such as domestic violence. Would definitely recommend!
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Lorraine K. (Stamford, CT)
A Surprising Turn of Events!
I so enjoyed this book! The character development and the interaction between the characters was a joy to read! I started off thinking I know where this is going, however, it did not go that way at all! A very good read!
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Cindy C. (Withee, WI)
Tanner & Louise
This book was okay, but in my opinion could have been better. I did like the characters from the somewhat lost Tanner to the somewhat eccentric Louise to Jules, the daughter that tries to run her mother's life. I felt the pace of the book was slow at times, although if you just want an easy read to fill an afternoon, this book might be for you. I felt the road trip dragged a bit, while the ending seemed kind of rushed and left me wanting more, like the story wasn't quite over.
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Wendy F. (Kalamazoo, MI)
Nice little escape
A cute caper with a young woman and her mysterious charge. Who knew that Louise would prove to be such a handful? It was fun to watch the relationship grow.
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Julie M. (Coon Rapids, MN)
Generational Sweet Read
I enjoyed this book as a sweet story of an older wiser woman taking a young woman under her wing and on an adventure. Both learn from each other. Pretty predictable, but a good vacation/escape read. Will appeal to young and old readers alike.
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