About the Book
Forty-five-year-old Donna Koczynski is an ex-punk rocker, a recovering alcoholic, and the mother of two teenagers whose suburban existence detonates when she comes home early from a sales conference in Las Vegas to the surprise of a lifetime. As her world implodes, she sets off on an epic road trip to reclaim everything she believes she’s sacrificed since her wild youth: Great friendship, passionate love, and her art. But as she careens across the U.S. from Detroit to New York to Memphis to Nashville, nothing turns out as she imagines. Ultimately, she finds herself resurrected on the other side of the globe, on a remote island embroiled in a crisis far bigger than her own.
Irresistibly funny, whip-smart, and surprisingly moving, DONNA HAS LEFT THE BUILDING spins an unforgettable tale about what it means to be brave — and to truly love — in a tumultuous world.
My Review
This book seemed to have several different parts to it – it read in three different sections. That being said, it also was a long read, and a little difficult to piece the three very different sections together. I really felt for Donna in the beginning, could sympathize with her frustrations, but the second section threw me off. Between just up and leaving her family and really seeming to throw most common sense out of the window, she came off as quite selfish and a little immature as well. The third section I did like and I appreciated the context of the refugee situation (and went on to Google a few of the organizations to see how to get involved) but it didn’t seem to tie the whole novel together, instead, it felt like a whole different book I was reading. And the ending had me scratching my head that after all the time we spend together, all the bad decisions and road trips, led us to an ending that I wasn’t even quite sure what had happened. I really did want to like Donna Has Left the Building, but overall I just left a little confused.
2.5 stars
