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The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs
by
Jack Gantos
On an unseasonably warm Easter Sunday, a young girl named Ivy discovers a chilling secret in the basement of the Rumbaugh pharmacy across the street from the hotel where she lives with her mother. The discovery reveals a disturbing side to the eccentric lives of family friends Abner and Adolph Rumbaugh, known throughout their small western Pennsylvania town simply as the T...more
Paperback, 192 pages
Published
June 24th 2008
by Square Fish
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Mar 29, 2011
Mariel
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Kinga
Recommended to Mariel by:
karen
We didn't like this. Two stars: one from me, one from Lauren. Did I mention I read this twice because I read it telepathically with my twin sister, Lauren? Then Lauren read it twice because she was reading it with me. Her read count of two doubled my read count. It adds up. It really wasn't good enough to read that many times.
I'm mind reading Lauren right now. She says that this is one of those books where the narrator bashes you over the head with what they want to tell you. I say, "It's seen...more
I'm mind reading Lauren right now. She says that this is one of those books where the narrator bashes you over the head with what they want to tell you. I say, "It's seen...more
Jun 13, 2010
karen
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to karen by:
montambo
seriously?
montambo recommended this book to me because i fear twins and their freakish abilities and the way they want to use mind control on us all. this book didn't make me change my mind w/r/t their potential for evil. at all. *
but for a teen audience, this? it opens with a wallace stevens quote, "in the presence of extraordinary actuality, consciousness takes the place of imagination"
already, this ain't no twilight.
and from there it goes into eugenics and mengele and taxidermy-as-love and m...more
montambo recommended this book to me because i fear twins and their freakish abilities and the way they want to use mind control on us all. this book didn't make me change my mind w/r/t their potential for evil. at all. *
but for a teen audience, this? it opens with a wallace stevens quote, "in the presence of extraordinary actuality, consciousness takes the place of imagination"
already, this ain't no twilight.
and from there it goes into eugenics and mengele and taxidermy-as-love and m...more
35 likes · like · see review
Jul 19, 2012
Shaundell
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
byu-books-for-young-readers,
young-adult
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
"Love is a terrible and a wonderful thing."
On my way home, I passed by a book sale and saw a copy of this book with a price that has been repeatedly marked down. Since it was so cheap, I decided to get it. I went home and read it in one sitting.
This book is twisted, a little sick, and contained all the necessary elements to make it fit for Gothic literature.
(1) elements of paranoia which brings sensation of being persecuted by the unknown, (2) elements of barbarism or an idea that relates to the...more
On my way home, I passed by a book sale and saw a copy of this book with a price that has been repeatedly marked down. Since it was so cheap, I decided to get it. I went home and read it in one sitting.
This book is twisted, a little sick, and contained all the necessary elements to make it fit for Gothic literature.
(1) elements of paranoia which brings sensation of being persecuted by the unknown, (2) elements of barbarism or an idea that relates to the...more
Los Rumbaughs tienen una maldición: quieren demasiado a sus madres, si, así como lo leen, su maldición es esa, no la quieren en un sentido de complejo de edipo, nada de incesto y cosas enfermas de esas, bueno, solo cosas enfermas diferentes como el querer disecar a sus madres para tenerlas siempre con ellos.
El libro empieza con Ivy, una niña de 7 años que vive con su madre, la cual descubre en el sótano de la farmacia de los gemelos Rumbaugh la figura disecada de la madre de ellos, de ahí empiez...more
El libro empieza con Ivy, una niña de 7 años que vive con su madre, la cual descubre en el sótano de la farmacia de los gemelos Rumbaugh la figura disecada de la madre de ellos, de ahí empiez...more
Let me preface this review by saying that this book was very well written and raised some interesting questions about genetics, family, and free will. That said, it wasn't for me. If you appreciate a creepy, gothic tale, it might be for you.
Ivy is raised by her single mother in a small town. She doesn't have any desire to make friends her own age. Instead, she stays very close to her adored mother, venturing over to the pharmacy across the street when her mother is at work. Two albino twin broth...more
Ivy is raised by her single mother in a small town. She doesn't have any desire to make friends her own age. Instead, she stays very close to her adored mother, venturing over to the pharmacy across the street when her mother is at work. Two albino twin broth...more
ummm...so far this book is a little bizarre. I don't know if I'd like it more if I read it, or that I find it disconcerting because of the reader. I am more than 1/2 through the book (disc 3 of 4) and we're just getting to the meat of the story. I'm withholding complete judgment until I finish, but I don't know if I'd recommend this book yet, based on what I have listened to so far... Or maybe I just thinks it's weird/disturbing how much the characters love/obsess over their mothers. wow.
and now...more
and now...more
An extremely twisted story. The whole idea of taxidermy on humans is rather repulsive by common moral standards. But when maternal love is thrown into the picture, some may see this practice as nothing less than normal. Oh, and there is also the idea of eliminating men from the gene pool altogether....
On an unseasonably warm Easter Sunday, a young girl named Ivy discovers a chilling secret in the basement of the Rumbaugh pharmacy across the street from the hotel where she lives with her mother.
The discovery reveals a disturbing side to the eccentric lives of family friends Abner and Adolph Rumbaugh, known throughout their small western Pennsylvania town simply as the Twins.
It seems that Ab and Dolph have been compelled by a powerful mutual love for their deceased mother to do something extr...more
The discovery reveals a disturbing side to the eccentric lives of family friends Abner and Adolph Rumbaugh, known throughout their small western Pennsylvania town simply as the Twins.
It seems that Ab and Dolph have been compelled by a powerful mutual love for their deceased mother to do something extr...more
One day young Ivy discovers Mother Rumbaughs in the cellar of The Twins. First thinking the still figure is a life-sized doll Ivy is fascinated, once she realises it is actually the late Mother Rumbaughs she runs screaming from the cellar and into her arms of her mother. And thus the Rumbaughs curse is unlocked in Ivy.
The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs is twisted, complex and disturbing. Ivy’s story is a tale of nature vs. nurture. Her mother is convinced her nurture is enough to undo a curse which...more
The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs is twisted, complex and disturbing. Ivy’s story is a tale of nature vs. nurture. Her mother is convinced her nurture is enough to undo a curse which...more
Sep 01, 2007
Krista the Krazy Kataloguer
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
read-ya
What a peculiar book! I didn't think I would like it, as I don't care for his Rotten Ralph books (even though I have my own Rotten Ralph!). However, it held me right to the end just because it was such a strange plot with such an odd bunch of characters.
Mar 12, 2007
Steven
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Anyone
Shelves:
read-recently,
eng-619-ya-lit
This book is the best modern gothic tale since ever! It is written in the genre of YA Lit, but I would recomend it to any adult as well. There are creepy elements similar to Anthony Perkins Psycho and Arsenic and Old Lace. Humorous OMG!
A truly superb book. One of my favourites. Literary without being pretentious, interesting without being contrived, gothic without being repulsive. This book was deeply creepy, eerie and fascinating. The characters were amazingly well-drawn. The entire book held together as a coherent whole. It was very intelligent and empathic. I loved that Gantos stayed away from the typical teen cliches - there is no romance here (except of the twisted familial kind), no boyfriends and no ridiculous subplots....more
I couldn't help but think of Psycho all the way through this book, and it didn't help me identify with the main character at all. I'm still not sure what to make of it. I kept thinking how disturbing it was for these creepy people to just blame their misdeeds on a curse. It felt like an excuse for immoral behavior and in that sense there was little hope that Ivy would have ever gotten out from under it. I think her mom was right. I think she could have just decided to change, but Ivy chose to be...more
This book was so bizarre. I only read it because of a book discussion group I participated in. Then we heard the author speak. He was hilarious and told us that parts of the story were actually TRUE!
I give four stars to this book for two reasons.
First, it is very well written and even though a creepy, somehow disturbing story it is a story that hooks from the start.
Second, I have met the author in person in an international author's conference in New York where he autographed the book for me, and I remember thinking that he was the weirdest YA author I had ever seen. Dressed in an old -fashioned tailored dark suit, with dark glasses there was a kind of creepy elegance about him. Four years...more
First, it is very well written and even though a creepy, somehow disturbing story it is a story that hooks from the start.
Second, I have met the author in person in an international author's conference in New York where he autographed the book for me, and I remember thinking that he was the weirdest YA author I had ever seen. Dressed in an old -fashioned tailored dark suit, with dark glasses there was a kind of creepy elegance about him. Four years...more
What a pointless, revolting book.
The subject --human taxidermy-- is creepy enough that, done right, it could make for a fascinating novel.
Whoops.
I'm a little surprised at how long the book was, actually, because the plot itself was obvious from page one and there was no fleshing out of the story at all (pardon the pun): it was almost like the author thought, "hmmm. i have this one idea. time to write a book!" There was absolutely no character development and no plot development. Instead, each p...more
The subject --human taxidermy-- is creepy enough that, done right, it could make for a fascinating novel.
Whoops.
I'm a little surprised at how long the book was, actually, because the plot itself was obvious from page one and there was no fleshing out of the story at all (pardon the pun): it was almost like the author thought, "hmmm. i have this one idea. time to write a book!" There was absolutely no character development and no plot development. Instead, each p...more
An adult novella disguised as a YA novel. It is hard to place the age range for this book. While the book has very little text that would be offensive (no foul language, etc), there is one scene where a sexual encounter is described (not graphically) and there is a hint of incest. Not to mention all the creepy PEOPLE-TAXIDERMY. Would likely most appeal to a high schooler who enjoys classic short stories like A Rose for Emily. Told from the point of view of Ivy, this is a darkly gothic tale of tw...more
turns out that i am not interested in mother-love OR taxidermy.
This is really more like 2.5 Stars, because it was ok, and I sorta liked it, enough to keep reading it anyways, but I don't feel I liked it enough to give it the 3 Stars 'Liked It' designation, so I'll leave it with the 2 Stars 'It Was Ok'. I realize I am not the target YA audience for the book, but I don't think that has anything to do with it, as I've read and loved many a YA and/or kids' book. The premise of this story was interesting, the back-cover blurb is what made me pick it up (at a lib...more
Jan 04, 2008
babyhippoface
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
young-adult,
duds
Beyond "goth" and into the world of the bizarrely perverse. Twin adult men who take turns sleeping with their mother's taxidermied head. A girl who cuts off her dead mother's hands, taxidermies them, and sticks them in her coat pockets so she can walk down the street and hold her mother's hand anytime she wants. Do I really need to go on?
Ooookay. In a perverse story of the Oedipus Complex taken to a higher level, a young girl named Ivy discovers she has inherited the “Love Curse of the Rumbaughs...more
Ooookay. In a perverse story of the Oedipus Complex taken to a higher level, a young girl named Ivy discovers she has inherited the “Love Curse of the Rumbaughs...more
What is The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs? As a book, it's sort of what would happen if an old VC Andrews plot fell into the hands of a good writer and a better editor, and the 300 pages of gratuitous sex were removed. As a concept, the Love Curse is an excessive, obsessive mother-love, an Oedipal complex passed down through the generations. It's a dark, gothic story, involving taxidermy, identical twin brothers, their mother (from whom they can't bear to be parted), a young girl, and her mother....more
The love curse of the title is an obsessive mother-love that leaves Oedipus in the dust. A truly bizarre book, and one that is very difficult to rate. It is indeed very well-written, and it surely succeeds at what it attempts to do. I certainly couldn't put it down. But is it enjoyable? It's dark, very dark. And it's made even more unsettling by the narrator's matter-of-fact tone. I actually felt hugely relieved that the book was over and there was no more left for me to read. I did however, sta...more
I really loved this book. The prose was absolutely wonderful, maybe even a little highbrow for a kids book. The story was gothic and gruesome and fascinating and I just couldn't tear myself away from it. Really, the way Gantos used his words in this book was stunning. Every sentence is so elegantly constructed and Ivy's ruminations are intelligent and interesting. I can't think of anything more specific to say - I just loved it!
This book isn't really a horror story, but that's the closest I can come to assigning a genre. It's a really strange book. The prologue makes the point that the book isn't "about" anything, it's just a story, but I can't help thinking there must be some deeper meaning that I missed. Unless the author just wanted to tell a creepy story, in which case he succeeded. I would recommend this book to people who like weird, disturbing tales.
Ivy loves her mother - she is her best friend and even though she has no father she gets to play at the pharmacy run by the Rumbaugh twins. The Rumbaugh twins also really loved their mother even after she died and Ivy discovers that she has the same problem all the Rumbaughs have had - a total love of their mothers and a total fear of losing them. Can she break this curse - can she understand this curse?
May 09, 2008
Nancyc
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Nancyc by:
Esta
Shelves:
ya
It’s hard to imagine this book, marketed for a teen audience, ever having wide appeal with its target audience. The language is too rich and possesses a gothic lilt. The story is Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily meets the Bates Motel. We have a small town with a family secret.
Whenever a story shows characters who are into taxidermy, I know we’re going to find that the dearly departed probably haven’t…departed, that is. This story didn’t let me down. Stuffed mothers appear around ever corner, building...more
Whenever a story shows characters who are into taxidermy, I know we’re going to find that the dearly departed probably haven’t…departed, that is. This story didn’t let me down. Stuffed mothers appear around ever corner, building...more
I had to add a new shelf for this book: WEIRD. Ivy has a love curse and is completely obsessed with her mother. She's prepared to do whatever it takes to protect and preserve her mother for all time. The Rumbaugh twins are her guide in this as they also had the love curse. I listened to this while driving and frequently made "ewwww!" faces. Not for those with weak stomachs. But I liked it anyway!
The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs
Jack Gantos
This is no ordinary love. It’s gothic, perverse, and darkly humorous. This kind of love is a curse that inspires in its victims an extreme fear of the death of one’s mother.
Take identical twins Ab and Dolph, two elderly pharmacists who keep an eye on teenaged Ivy after school. They’re Rumbaughs, and the love curse has been coursing through their family’s veins for generations. Ivy is fascinated by their current eccentricities, how as children they were s...more
Jack Gantos
This is no ordinary love. It’s gothic, perverse, and darkly humorous. This kind of love is a curse that inspires in its victims an extreme fear of the death of one’s mother.
Take identical twins Ab and Dolph, two elderly pharmacists who keep an eye on teenaged Ivy after school. They’re Rumbaughs, and the love curse has been coursing through their family’s veins for generations. Ivy is fascinated by their current eccentricities, how as children they were s...more
It was probably because it was so wierd and creepy, that I was so intrigued by the story. It's a book that makes you ask a lot of questions, and I felt very opiniated about the topics in the book. I couldn't really see where the twins and Ivy were coming from though. I mean if you loved your mother that much, surely you would respect her wants and needs, and just bury her in the ground like anyone else? Apparently not. They must have had very twisted minds to plan and do something like taxidermy...more
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Jack Gantos is an American author of children's books renowned for his portrayal of fictional Joey Pigza, a boy with ADHD. Gantos has won a number of awards, including the Newbery Honor, the Printz Honor, and the Sibert Honor from the American Library Association, and he has been a finalist for the National Book Award. His newest book, The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs (2006), deals with twins, euge...more
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“At the time I didn't realize their lie was a defense against the fear they had of losing their mother. I was still too young to understand that most lies were not about stealing or fighting or cheating but were just ways by which a person shrinks their whole world down to a size they can keep protected in the palm of one hand.”
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