The Book of Speculation in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Jun 07, 2015 Molly rated it liked it

Shelves: literary-fiction, kindle, borrowed, 3-stars, good-concept-poor-execution, i-want-to-like-you, meh, book-riot-finds, read-in-2015

I wanted to like this, and I did like parts of it, but in spite of featuring so many things I adore, it all just sort of fell flat. Nothing inspires a "shut up and take my money!" response faster than a book about a circus. And a book featuring a circus AND a librarian AND a possibly magical book? Seriously, shut up and take my money! Sadly, I felt like there was just too much going on in too little space.

There are two stories here: in the present we have Simon, a librarian who has just receive I wanted to like this, and I did like parts of it, but in spite of featuring so many things I adore, it all just sort of fell flat. Nothing inspires a "shut up and take my money!" response faster than a book about a circus. And a book featuring a circus AND a librarian AND a possibly magical book? Seriously, shut up and take my money! Sadly, I felt like there was just too much going on in too little space.

There are two stories here: in the present we have Simon, a librarian who has just received a strange book with his grandmother's name inside. Simon has grown up on the east coast and had sort of a tragic life. His mother drowned when he was young, and his father died not long after of a broken heart. He spent his teen years raising his sister Enola, and she's turning out to be just as troubled as his mother. Simon is a librarian, still living in his childhood home, basically stuck. Then along comes this book.

Through the book (view spoiler), we see the story of Amos and eventually Evangeline. Amos was a feral child adopted by Hermelius Peabody and his traveling menagerie. The fortune teller, Madame Ryzhkova, also takes a shine to the boy, considering him her son. Then Evangeline shows up and although she and Amos fall in love, things around them begin to fall apart.

The chapters switch back and forth between Amos's story and Simon's, and while I get that the two are connected, it felt like I was reading two different books. Both stories were interesting in different ways, but I felt like neither was well developed enough for me to form a connection to any of the characters. I wanted more detail on life in the circus, even on Evangeline's life before she joined them. In Simon's world I had a hard time getting invested in this old family drama because it's just sort of half-assedly thrown out and kind of dealt with, but doesn't end up having any bearing on the actual plot. Had the story taken place solely in the present, perhaps more weight could have been given to that particular subplot. I do so love old money east coast family dramas! The romance element is sort of half-assed too; I'd have rather spent more time with Enola and Doyle instead.

I suppose there's sort of an element of magical realism at work here. Simon starts to believe the women in his family are cursed: in spite of being "mermaids" (ie, able to hold their breath under water for a long time), women in his family have a habit of dying young. All from drowning, and all on July 24th. And once Enola shows up looking off and compulsively shuffling her mother's old tarot cards, Simon feels compelled to try to break the curse. Except, (view spoiler)

Overall this was sort of a disappointment; yet another book in the throes of identity crisis. ...more

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Oct 04, 2017 Jenny rated it it was ok

Shelves: readaloud, fantasy, 2017

Simon is a orphaned librarian with a murky family history. An old book is sent to him that details the history of traveling show with hauntingly familiar characteristics of his own family. The audiobook was well done but the story felt overly long and not very engaging.

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