Parveen

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Parveen’s Bookshelves

to-read‎ (55)

currently-reading‎ (10)

read‎ (205)

did-not-finish‎ (15)

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Parveen is Currently Reading

Parveen is currently reading

The Lincoln Highway

by Amor Towles (Goodreads Author)

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Parveen said: " The book could have been 300 pages shorter and could have just stuck to 4 characters but instead it meandered endlessly without direction introducing new characters while failing to develop existing characters. Not one character grows on you and in t ...more "

Aug 20, 2026 06:32AM · see review

Parveen is currently reading

Sorrow and Bliss

by Meg Mason (Goodreads Author)

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Parveen said: " WARNING: If you are depressed or suffering from depression, please DO NOT READ this book. It may drag you even further down.

The book started out quite well. The writing is good, even though there isn’t much dialogue, and some of the humour—especially WARNING: If you are depressed or suffering from depression, please DO NOT READ this book. It may drag you even further down.

The book started out quite well. The writing is good, even though there isn’t much dialogue, and some of the humour—especially Ingrid’s—is genuinely funny. Unfortunately, Martha, the protagonist, is about as dull and dreary as her name suggests.

Despite battling depression since her teenage years, Martha manages to find love not once but twice. But, being Martha, she pushes both men away with her attitude and behavior. And when she finally sees a psychiatrist of her own volition, it’s not because she’s seeking help—it’s because she’s curious about the guy, who happens to be a colleague’s husband. Her diagnosis is ________.

No, I am not omitting the diagnosis. That is literally what the book gives us: a frigging dash. We’re left to use our imagination.

Why this pseudo-intellectual coyness from Meg Mason? She spends an entire book writing, apparently authoritatively, about depression and mental illness, yet can’t even bring herself to name the condition. Apparently, the diagnosis is too profound—or too clever—to be put into words.

Having seen people I love battle depression, I have some idea of how devastating the illness can be. But what I find difficult to accept is Martha’s relentless meanness and the way everyone around her seems to simply tolerate it. What appalls me even more is that no one in her family—not even her doctor husband, who knows about her condition from her first marriage—seems to make any real attempt to get her professional help. It’s almost as though everyone has given up and decided to let Martha remain her miserable, self-destructive self.

Why the author would subject both Martha and her readers to this much misery is beyond me. Reading this book feels a bit like taking drugs: I know it’s probably bad for me, but I keep going back for more.

I’m only halfway through, so I’m hoping there’s some light at the end of this very long, very depressing tunnel—and that Martha eventually gets the help she so desperately needs. Hope to find a cheerier novel after this. ...more "

Aug 10, 2026 11:19AM · see review