A memoir from the SNL cast member Cecily Strong about grieving the death of her cousin—and embracing the life-affirming lessons he taught her—amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Strong brings us uneasily into her world of pain and her struggle to learn joy again ... Strong is guarded as she tells the story of her cousin, Owen. She shares texts and tales about her relationship with him but never quite cements us to his image the way she does to her own foibles from the past ... Strong doesn’t quite grasp the bigger picture to which we all can relate through her personal lens ... Strong uses her personal lens to give the reader her take on this insane period. It is strongest felt when she is talking about her own life and her memories of growing up in a world that doesn’t exist anymore. This Will All Be Over Soon is a good and sincere first take on these pandemic times.
Strong shows her serious side in this uneven if earnest memoir about the death of her cousin ... Strong’s writing is more vivid when she explores her own life ... While fans may be left wanting more of Strong’s personal story, her sincere tribute is nonetheless touching.
Her prose is sincere yet largely flavorless. Without establishing a narrative arc, the author offers little in the way of revelation, for herself or readers, delivering a collection of non sequiturs, text messages, banal confessions, and scattershot notes typed on her phone. Fans hoping for details about her experiences at SNL will be disappointed—and also surprised by the lack of humor. The author repeatedly describes herself and this work as messy, which is an apt assessment ... Her affection for Owen, however, clearly comes through. There’s no lack of emotion in Strong’s voice, but the delivery mostly falls flat.
