She's Come Undone by wally lamb

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

I thought this was a great story. Yes, it was depressing but I was really pulling for Dolores to pull herself out of the difficult situations she was in. She's a very relatable character. I thought the writing was very good. I was surprised a man wrote this book. He has great insight on how women feel.

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earthborn

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

She's Come Undone is just so fantastic. I have read this book twice, which is something I never do. The first time I read it was in high school. The second time while I was in my undergrad studies.

There is something so real and touching about the way Lamb wrote the way a woman feels and thinks, which made me forget it was a man who wrote the novel.

The two times I have read this, I took away something different each time. Dolores is the type of woman who has some of my fears as a woman: weight, different insecurities, and other issues I could tell she had. They made the story more real to me.

Some might criticize this book because it was a little depressing in some areas, but I praise it for being real, taking on the challenge of a woman's mind, and ultimately for just being so memorable.

I don't re-read books. There are just so many, and not enough time. However, I will read this for a third and probably a fourth time. It is easily probably my most favorite book EVER.

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TheShrimpster

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

As I've mentioned before, I hate weak characters. Even more, I hate weak characters with self-pity. This one was hard to swallow. Being obese does not give people the right to treat others like crap. And no one's life is easy, so that's not a good excuse for poor behavior either.

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Pochipa

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

I’m trying to think of any other book that had me sobbing as hard as this one… my heart is heavy but i loved it so much

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ihnei

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

Trigger Warnings: rape, obesity, mental illness, suicidal ideation, miscarriage, abortion, infidelity, spousal abuse

This book has been my all-time favorite for a very long time, and I re-read it every couple of years (this was my 4th time!). Each time, it’s as good as the first. This fantastically written, tragic, and heartbreaking story follows the main character, Dolores Price, from childhood to adulthood, as she is forced to navigate through many losses and one trauma after another. It’s full of unique and complex characters- I have such love for this motley crew! The character development in this story is beyond phenomenal, and Dolores is by far the best female character I’ve ever read about. Wally Lamb writes from a female perspective like no other author can, leaving the reader no choice but to feel fiercely protective of her, root like hell for her, and love her unconditionally. Despite her roughened edges, Dolores is real, flawed, funny, and lovable, and is just trying to find her place in the world amidst more heartbreak and challenges than one person should ever have to endure. You will find sprinkles of humor and sarcasm in this story that help to alleviate some of the heaviness.
This book is just so near and dear to my heart. I look forward to re-reading this book many times in the years to come.

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obfusu

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

Amazing, sad, weird, fascinating story. Enjoyed it, sort of John Irving style.

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sarmale

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

I hate this book. The problems with this book are-

Stereotypes. Every supporting character is some kind of stereotype. They don't seem like real, actual people. Not every gay man is effeminate, not every lesbian is butchy. But Lamb doesn't get this so both books I've read by him just have to be chock full of the most annoying stereotypes. Along with the long suffering tormented mother and men that are complete jerks. It gets frustrating.

Dolores is an unpleasant character who makes such terrible decisions such as basically stalking a man, killing someone's fish and just being terrible to people who try to be good to her. Worse is how certain characters, such as a gay man dying of AIDS, exist more to teach her things than to be their own people.

It's the sort of book I liked the first time, but reading it two more times just cements the problems with it. The way it uses the most popular things of an era, which never really reads as authentic to me.

And how difficult is it to write in a woman's perspective? But the fatphobia in this book drove me up a tree. How horrible is it for someone to be fat? It means having extra meat on their bones. It shouldn't be a source of total hatred. Guh.

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MattLocke

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

April 17,2025

2.5 Stars

She's come undone by Wally Lamb was October Book Club read and was really looking forward to this one as have been hearing great things about Wally Lamb.

This is one of those books you either love or hate and I am pretty much on the side of the haters due to the fact that I found the book quite depressing. Half way through the story I was thinking please let something positive happen in this book or just something uplifting. I found the plot just too unbelievable and a bit contrived.

The characters however are well developed and you really do get a great sense of time and place from this novel and Wally Lamb's writing.
I think that this will make a great book club read as we had an excellent discussion on this one.

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She's Come Undone

wally lamb

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