Her Fearful Symmetry in Crazy Challenge Connection

May 08, 2013 Gina rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: women-s-fiction, books-i-own-read, contemporary-fiction, cross-cultural, women-s-issues, friendship, paperbackswap, relationships, mystery, 5-00-rating

This is one of the strangest, but interesting, books that I have read and liked in a long time. The quick summary is that Edie and Elseph are twins in England. Something terrible happens between them, that the reader doesn't know, that makes Edie go to America with her new husband and eventually give birth two symmetrical twins. That means that they are the mirror image of each other. One has a mole of the left side the other the right...ok get it. Ok. Edie and Elseph have been separated for ove This is one of the strangest, but interesting, books that I have read and liked in a long time. The quick summary is that Edie and Elseph are twins in England. Something terrible happens between them, that the reader doesn't know, that makes Edie go to America with her new husband and eventually give birth two symmetrical twins. That means that they are the mirror image of each other. One has a mole of the left side the other the right...ok get it. Ok. Edie and Elseph have been separated for over 25 years without speaking. Elseph is dying on cancer and decides to leave her whole estate to Edie's twins, Valentina and Julia, but with some conditions. 1)They have to live in the flat for a year before they sell it. 2)Their parents must never set foot in the flat...ever. Its a tough decision because, oh by the way did I tell you that Valentina and Julia are the strangest 21 year olds I have ever come upon???...Valentina and Julia NEVER and mean NEVER do anything different than the other. They still dress alike...at 21..., they hold hands when they are out, and they still sleep in the same bed. In fact Valentina has Never slept alone in her life before. They don't go to school, they just live at home and do nothing but watch TV with these strange routines about food and TV.

So they go to England and are at first intrigued but can't seem to figure out how to do anything. Then they start to do some touristy stuff and Julia starts learning her way around while Valentina wants to stay home. The is a whole cast of strange people in the building...Martin, an extreme OCD sufferer, Marijike, the trapped wife of Martin, and Robert, Elseph's boyfriend up until his death and he is kind of losing it. Julia befriends Martin and Robert is so taken with Valentina because she looks so much like Elseph that they fall in love of sorts.

All the while the twins are living in the flat, Elseph is stuck in the flat as a ghost and is constantly trying to communicate with the twins and Roberts. She eventually figures it out by writing in dust and then, once they realize she is there, use the Ouija board.

But Elseph isn't who she was in life. She has changed into a darker something. Plans are made and go terribly wrong. Robert finds out the truth about why Elseph and Edie have not spoken in years and Robert goes crashing.

The ending just leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth. However, even with the bad taste I don't think that I wasted my time. This was probably one of the most interesting and clever stories I have read in awhile. Niffenegger has created these extremely flawed characters and this very unique story line. She evoked very strong emotions in me while I was reading and even know a lot of my feelings were negative this is the kind of story that will stick with me. I recommend it to someone looking for something a little different. The oddness and the unique story line deserve a 5 stars from me! ...more

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Apr 13, 2012 Keksisbaby rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: borrowed, read-2010

Was passiert wenn man stirbt? Verschwindet man einfach so oder besteht die Möglichkeit zu denen die man liebt zurückzukehren? Nachdem Elspeth an Krebs gestorben ist, kehrt ihre Seele zurück in ihre Wohnung in London, die sie ihren Nichten Valentina und Julia vererbt hat. Die beiden eineiigen Zwillinge üben sich zum ersten Mal in Selbstständigkeit. Valentina ist eher schüchtern, kränklich und zurückhaltend, wohingegen Julias Naturell robust, ungeduldig und herrisch ist. Und während Elspeth heraus Was passiert wenn man stirbt? Verschwindet man einfach so oder besteht die Möglichkeit zu denen die man liebt zurückzukehren? Nachdem Elspeth an Krebs gestorben ist, kehrt ihre Seele zurück in ihre Wohnung in London, die sie ihren Nichten Valentina und Julia vererbt hat. Die beiden eineiigen Zwillinge üben sich zum ersten Mal in Selbstständigkeit. Valentina ist eher schüchtern, kränklich und zurückhaltend, wohingegen Julias Naturell robust, ungeduldig und herrisch ist. Und während Elspeth herauszufinden sucht, wie sie mit den Lebenden kommunizieren kann, wird immer deutlicher, dass Valentina die Zwillingsbeziehung zu eng wird und sie ein eigenständiges Leben führen will. Nicht ganz unschuldig an dieser Entwicklung ist der Geschichtsdoktorand Robert, der früher Elspeth Nachbar und Geliebter war und sich jetzt in die schüchterne Valentina verliebt hat. Als es der Verstorbenen endlich gelingt Kontakt mit ihren Liebsten aufzunehmen, kommt Valentina auf eine gefährliche Idee, wie sie sich von Julia lösen kann, nur bedarf es dazu der Hilfe des Geistes und ihres neuen Freundes Robert. Doch bei diesem Plan hat niemand mit Elspeth Sehnsucht nach dem Leben gerechnet und so kommt es anders als gedacht.
Eine nette übernatürliche Story aus der Feder von Audrey Niffenegger, eingebunden in die wundervolle Atmosphäre und malerische Kulisse des Highgate Friedhofs. Am Anfang war ich begeistert von der Geschichte. Die Figuren waren wirklich originell und trotz ihrer Fehler liebenswert. Dazu kam die richtige melancholische Stimmung, durch die Beschreibung des berühmten Friedhofs. Aber der zweite Teil hat mich eher enttäuscht. Die Akteure handelten plötzlich völlig übertrieben und vor allem Valentinas Plan Abstand zu ihrer Schwester zu schaffen fand ich abstrus. Ein Auszug aus der gemeinsamen Wohnung hätte es auch getan. Das Ende war auch eher unbefriedigend, kann aber auch einfach daran liegen, dass ich offene Enden irgendwie nicht so prickelnd finde. Den einzigen dem ich die ganzen 460 Seiten lang, Sympathie entgegenbrachte, war die Nebenfigur Martin, der seine Zwangsstörung bekämpft, um seine Frau Mareijke zurückzugewinnen.
Mit diesem Roman konnte Frau Niffenegger mich einfach nicht überzeugen, mich in ihren Fanclub einzureihen. Ich werde mich aber dennoch an ihren Bestseller die Frau des Zeitreisenden wagen. ...more

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Oct 03, 2012 Kaitlin rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2015

A haunting story about twin 21-year-olds who move into their aunt Elspeth's house after the aunt passes. The aunt is the twin sister of their mother, and those two have been estranged for about 20 years. Also crucial to the story are Robert, Elspeth's loving boyfriend, and Martin, the upstairs neighbor with OCD so severe that it leads to hours-long showers, compulsive counting, and debilitating agoraphobia.

I enjoyed the victorian aspects of the novel - the creepy cemetery and hauntings most espe ...more

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