Georgia’s search for former lovers plays out against her relationships with her willful daughters, her feisty mother and her hot-headed girlfriends, Wanda and Violet. The transitions between these subplots seem at times to lack graceful segues, but the evolution of each of these relationships draws Georgia closer to finding a bright, new future...Self-discovery, second chances and the importance of family are thematic hallmarks of McMillan’s novels, as is the rich and colorful dialogue that make her books so much fun to read. I Almost Forgot About You checks all the boxes for trash talk, steamy sex scenes, lots of laughs and f-bombs galore. By novel’s end, you’ll realize what a clever title McMillan has chosen.
Janis Joplin once described herself as passionate and sloppy, and the same could be said of I Almost Forgot About You. McMillan falls back on dialogue a little too often. For every sharp and well-observed paragraph about the challenges of aging, or wise reflection on the unexpected benefits of a failed marriage, there are too many long, overstuffed expository conversations. In addition, seemingly important story lines are introduced, including a possible foreclosure, then simply evaporate, as if the author lost interest. For fans of McMillan, and they’re legion, these shortcomings won’t spoil anything. Though flawed, the novel is immensely companionable.
Everybody wants a happy ending and Georgia’s happy ever after is so ridiculously romantic that it feels churlish to criticize other aspects of this novel. But there are things about Georgia that are downright unpleasant...A longtime, charming patient dies, and that news is telegraphed with a sad-face emoticon. Has it come to this, that an author who can write with such warmth and understanding succumbs to the cheapness of the emoji? McMillan’s fans deserve better...Cheers to McMillan for writing about the possibility of late-life reinvention. But I Almost Forgot is pretty forgettable.
Lawn chair, check. Warm and sunny spot in your yard or perhaps the lake, check. Now add a great book to read — and Terry McMillan’s latest, I Almost Forgot About You, complements summer relaxation...At middle age, Georgia has gone bored with the day to day of being an optometrist, living in a big home by herself and dining alone. Adding salt to the wound are her family and friends who constantly — and I mean constantly — ask her why she isn’t dating or doesn’t have a man. This question is repeated so frequently that it raises the question, 'Does a woman need a man to be validated?' This is the only stain on an otherwise pleasant read.
While the snappy dialogue and glamorous 'Eat, Pray, Love in Northern California' plot make this novel entertaining, I Almost Forgot about You straddles the world of fairytale romance and the reality of middle-agedom without finding its footing in either ... This novel, like much of Ms.McMillan’s work, explores the emotional truth beneath the glamorous (and gritty) details of everyday Black upper class life and the cathartic power of love. These themes are, unfortunately, mishandled by the choice of the present-tense first person narration, which often feels like, as Georgia reflects on her disappointments, your grandmother delivering some advice you didn’t ask for in the form of platitudes ... The best parts of the novel are her flashbacks to her younger days and sexual experiences, which take on the delicious tone of beauty shop gossip. The easy vernacular makes the unflinchingly honest account of emotional and sexual maturation for Georgia easy to digest.
