Emma’s Reviews > Mothers and Other Strangers > Status Update

The ending was perfect but also made me a little sad because while Mae is (mostly) making a new path for herself it seems like Sydney is falling into the same patterns as her mother and trapped as much as she was as a child and younger woman. But maybe that's the point? And maybe with the ending we have space to intuit that things will be different after she reconnects with Mae again?

whooo this was a ride. No one does complex and sometimes flawed characters quite like Corey. The way the two storylines are in conversation with each other just as Sydney and Mae are in conversation with Beth Ann and Joni is done really well. Even if it did sometimes make it hard to figure out who to "root for" in the story sometimes.

I can’t argue about reality with a six-year-old.
—-
Vibe

It was true. Mae was pretty sure it was nearly true.

Secrets could be kept, but the feeling of secrets in the air—that was harder to tamp down.

The Failure to Become.

It made sense to be the one in charge of inventing yourself.

This was almost art. It was art stripped of all depth and beauty.