Reviewed by Dianne Woodman
Daughter of Careful-ish: What Have We Learned? Nothing! pulls on readers’ heartstrings. It focuses on a group of young adults who are dealing with the vicissitudes of emotions from being socially isolated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Purchase Here.
Honey Parker has created an appealing group of characters who come from diverse backgrounds. Each of the characters has been instilled with their own distinctive likes, dislikes, and idiosyncrasies. The group of friends live in New York and participate in weekly video calls filled with both amusing and serious conversations. Readers get a clear picture of what the characters are going through and the motives behind their reactions to emotionally draining circumstances. Part of the story takes place in Florida as one of the characters travels to Florida to stay with her mother, who is recuperating from an accident. The author does an excellent job of showing the different ways in which the characters deal with the stress of being sidelined when it comes to the deprivation of face-to-face contact.
Daughter of Careful-ish will resonate with readers in this fictional accounting of how people deal with an epidemic that blindsided the population. Parker has crafted a book that artfully shows how unforeseen life-altering events can affect people’s jobs and career choices, lifestyle, and social behaviors and interactions with others. The story will reach readers on a deep level and appeal to their emotions. Throughout the story, the characters are riding on a roller coaster of emotions while they are facing unprecedented challenges both in their socioeconomic status and in the effects on interpersonal relationships.
The author hooks readers and keeps their attention with a satirist approach to a serious subject matter that includes laugh-out-loud scenes. Readers will relate to the issues faced and endeavors pursued by the characters. They encompass alcohol consumption, liaisons, fun activities, unplanned consequences of behavioral choices, peaks and valleys in relationships, and out-of-the-blue social interactions with strangers. There are also stressful and surprising family interactions, great dialogue between characters, differences in perceptions, and subsequent reactions to a pandemic.
Daughter of Careful-ish is a fantastic sequel, and it can be read as a stand-alone. The use of profanity in the story suitably fits the characters. The author’s writing style keeps readers invested in the characters’ journeys, and the book is a thoroughly engaging and heartfelt read. Anyone who wants to find out more backstory about these wonderfully portrayed divergent characters who face extraordinary times will want to read the first book.