REVIEW: I WAS TOLD IT WOULD GET EASIER, BY ABBI WAXMAN

 

Jessica and Emily Burnstein have very different ideas of how this college tour should go.

For Emily, it’s a preview of freedom, exploring the possibility of her new and more exciting future. Not that she’s sure she even wants to go to college, but let’s ignore that for now. And maybe the other kids on the tour will like her more than the ones at school. . . . They have to, right?

For Jessica, it’s a chance to bond with the daughter she seems to have lost. They used to be so close, but then Goldfish crackers and Play-Doh were no longer enough of a draw. She isn’t even sure if Emily likes her anymore. To be honest, Jessica isn’t sure she likes herself.

Together with a dozen strangers—and two familiar enemies—Jessica and Emily travel the East Coast, meeting up with family and old friends along the way. Surprises and secrets threaten their relationship and, in the end, change it forever.

 

 

 

Alternating narratives tell the story of I Was Told It Would Get Easier.

Jessica and Emily’s voices keep us looped into their adventurous college tour week. Sometimes I got a little bored with the tour itself, but I always enjoyed the snarky voices they each showed us.

Mothers and daughters have the same issues we all imagine, and some of us have experienced what those are like.

Never having gone on such a tour myself, however, I did like experiencing how the mother/daughter conflicts sorted themselves out by the end. 4.5 stars.

 

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