A Goodreads user asked:

I'm almost half way through the novel, but my attention is lagging. Should I read on?

23 likes · like
6 years ago
16 answers

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Richard Torres I think some of the most moving prose is in the later half of the book, so I would encourage you to continue. I found the ending to be particularly emotionally stirring.

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Cindyjaxn Also felt that the first half was tedious, second half is way better!

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Sonia marcoux I also started losing interest around the middle but kept reading. I loved the second half. The focus of the story returns to Simonopio and the Narrator (Francisco). I recommend you keep reading. :-)

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Susan Flieder I loved it! I listened to it on Audiobooks though and the "performance" was outstanding.

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Tom Second half is amazing. First half was a bit slow.

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Brantlea That's interesting because I liked the beginning to middle better! I was expecting more from the ending, it was so predictable.

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Andrea Hilyard I RARELY put a book down without finishing, but this one went down about halfway through. Maybe it's because I read a book that I really enjoyed just prior to picking up this one. Not a fan of "The Murmur of Bees".

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Kathy Crouse Same here. I almost gave up but really enjoyed the second half.

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Diane DeVillers please don't stop reading, you must slow your mind to enjoy this book, perhaps read where there is no noise whatsoever, this book is one of the best i have read in over five years

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carol a. goodman I also found it somewhat tedious and many times put it aside. However, I would encourage you to finish ~

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Judi I had the same reaction and thought maybe because I had to work at paying attention to the characters and the roles they played in the story. After getting about 25% into the book I couldn't put it down.

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Kylee Baumle I felt the same way, but YES, keep reading! You won't be sorry!

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Whitney No.... The same happened to me and I forced myself to keep reading. I wish I hadn't. If you like prose for prose's sake, maybe you can find some things to enjoy. But for me, I need an interesting plot and well-formed characters, not just emotional manipulation of the reader.

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Michele How can you not find out what happens to the Lion & Cyote? Admittedly I skipped through most of the second half to find out. Even the final chapters were annoyingly tedious.

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Ana ...depends on how much you can handle gratuitous racism and classism. For me, the second half made me very angry (though I will say, it went by a little quicker than the first half!).

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