I've never come across a book where the review is so clearly "it's not you, it's me". This book is objectively, I think, fine. It's mean to be a painfully feel-good, lighthearted, book club beach read. I think it succeeded at those things for the most part, but that kind of book is just so not for me. I wouldn't have picked it up if it weren't for the book club I'm a part of, so it almost doesn't seem fair for me to rate it. Alas, here we are.

I found Veronica to be insufferable for 90% of the book.  She was selfish, judgmental, manipulative, rude, and had no respect for boundaries. I feel like most of this was played off for humor as 'curmudgeonly old lady' but I didn't find it funny in the slightest. Learning more about her past was interesting, but it doesn't excuse her behavior, it just means she needed therapy. I thought Patrick was an interesting character but was too underdeveloped to have any weight - most of his chapters ended up being about reading Veronica's journals, so why was he even there?  My favorite part of the book was the penguins, but they honestly took more of a backseat than I had hoped.

This book has an audience and is well-loved according to its Goodreads rating, but that audience just isn't me.