PYL Book Club (Jan 2022): Weather Girl by Rachel Lynn Solomon

Weather Girl by Rachel Lynn Solomon

This book was definitely not my jam. It was 150 pages too long, very simple, with way too many plot holes. It felt like sloppy editing and needed a lot of tightening up. And I hate when women are referred to as ‘girls.’

There are weathermen and weather girls. Ugh. This is problematic and demeaning. If there was a weather girl (Ari), then there should have been a ‘sports boy’ (Russell).

A few things I did like:

— Normalization of a gay couple with kids

— Normalization of therapy for mental illness / mental health

— Normalization of mother issues and related fears and abandonment issues related to fathers

— Normalization of not feeling like being ‘enough’ or feeling like being ‘too much’

— Relationship reboot and allowance for growth after recognizing mistakes

— Positive co-parenting situation

— Safe sex

— Solo play with a partner (if you get my drift)

But there were so many things that just didn’t make sense. Without spoiling it for you:

— Boundary issues in the workplace

— Russel’s sexual experience given his age and situation

— Who paid for the double dates that seemed fairly expensive and elaborate?

— The first month covered in 200 pages and then 18 months in 50 pages

I don’t mind sex scenes but any book that has the woman ‘pressing him against her need,’ loses me. What does that actually mean? Do other women actually think this during sexy time?

Overall, the story was predictable and the ending too tidy. This was a bubble gum book that was too sweet to begin with and chewed for way too long after the initial flavor was gone.

If this is your jam, enjoy without my judgment (or any judgement for that matter). I need more depth and better editing.

Remember to buy local and support women owned bookstores.

Note: there are some (kind of) spoilers in the discussion questions.

1. How did you feel about Seth and Torrance’s relationship at the beginning and their behavior at work and work events? Have you experienced anything like this?
2. What did you think of Ari’s brother’s family and relationship and the normalization of a gay couple with two kids? Think about when Alex talks about knowing Javier was right for him and there’s never a perfect time to have kids (around p269).
3. There was a bit of a plot twist in the middle that we learned about when Ari forwarded a message to Torrance. Did you expect this? Were there any (overlooked?) indicators earlier that made it believable?
4. In Ari’s session with her therapist (p265), she’s asked, “Do you want the easy exit route? Or do you want to do the work, even when it’s hard?” Ari responded, “I’m not sure yet.” This was a very healthy response but was it consistent with what you knew about Ari?
5. Ari realized (p281) that “I’m really someone who likes being comforted by her mother.” Given that she didn’t have that growing up, did this align with what you already knew about her relationship with her mom?
6. Was Russel’s relationship with Elodie believable? What do you attribute it to?
7. Did Elodie behave like any other 12 year olds you know? Do you think her maturity was the result of being Gen Z or because she grew up as parents grew up? Or something else?
8. Were you surprised that Russell and Liv had such a good relationship in co-parenting Elodie? Would you expect this of young parents given their situation?
9. Was Russell’s sexual experience believable given his five-year sex drought and most likely after getting out of the relationship with Liv?

Any questions I should add? Send me an email at pilotingyourlife@gmail.com or drop it into the comments.

Happy reading!

Piloting Your Life author Terri Hanson Mead started the PYL book club in September 2020 to provide a place to learn and talk about new books. Read more about the book club here.

Piloting Your Life, Terri’s debut book, is ‘an inspiring, well-researched beach read’ inspiring women to design and live a life of their own creation’. Available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook on Amazon and other online retail outlets.

Terri is exploring more about her midlife (and being a tiara wearing, champagne drinking troublemaker) on her YouTube channel. New episodes every Tuesday and Saturday.

Follow Terri and Piloting Your Life on Instagram.