This one is a little tough. Someone else's review described it as "A real bowl of literary prawn crackers - you eat and eat and they taste of nothing,...moreThis one is a little tough. Someone else's review described it as "A real bowl of literary prawn crackers - you eat and eat and they taste of nothing, they're entirely synthetic, like a form of extruded plastic, but you can't stop and then you realise the whole bowl is gone and what was that all about?" I can't really put it any better. I found the middle bit of the story to grow a little dull, and the love story was a little contrived (I got the allegory with it, but it just wasn't thought-provoking; it was really a little weird). I'm usually one for abrupt, somewhat ambiguous endings,but it just didn't redeem itself.
Like I said, I get the allegories, but it just wasn't enough. If I could I would rate it at 2.5, but I've rounded it up to 3 because the style of the writing is remarkably good. The present-tense storytelling, with real-time interruptions, was really grand; in fact, when his storytelling became dull I enjoyed the little talks about the food and water more than the story being told. I also rounded up b/c I'm a nice person, and I think that it was a little bit more than just ok. Thin line to cross!(less)
I enjoyed this book for a number of reasons, and went back and forth on whether or not it needed 3 stars or 4 stars. I decided to go for 4, b/c I did...moreI enjoyed this book for a number of reasons, and went back and forth on whether or not it needed 3 stars or 4 stars. I decided to go for 4, b/c I did really like the story. There's a real sadness in the story, and I think it's pretty relevant for today's celebrity standards (someone else who wrote a review recommended the book to Lindsay Lohan, aptly). You can sit and try to debate the feminism in the story - or the lack of feminism if you take that stance - but I'll leave that bit up to you, b/c there was only one reason why I went back and forth on the stars.
The writing. It was okay. Very descriptive, great characters, wonderful dialogue. But. The way she had to explain narrative and back-story through a phone conversation between Jennifer and her mom, or Neely's story through her internal monologue. Ho hum. I don't think the book could be any longer, so I get an easy way out of giving catch-ups and background, but there had to be some brighter way of doing it. It was just contrived.
But I wanted to give the story some credit, so I did. 4 stars. (less)
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