"unexpected tragedy"

[Jessica]

I was eager to get to the "unexpected tragedy" that "strikes the tigh-knit Walker community" in the book (described in the synopsis)... Was it the death of Coach's wife?? Was it really unexpected if she was battling cancer? If this is the tragedy, it fell a bit flat for me (no disrespect to cancer patients) but I just kept waiting for something to happen, instead of something having already happened before the beginning of the book.

Any thoughts?

[[deleted user]]

I went back to the synopsis to read about the "unexpected tragedy" that you mentioned. I don't have the slightest idea what they are talking about either. I think it must be the death of Coach's wife, I don't know what else it could be. I agree with you that if she had been ill for a length of time then her death would not be very unexpected. Coach becomes a widower and that certainly did change Shea's life so maybe that's what they mean. Curious!!

[Kristin]

Oh my gosh, thank you!! I seriously had about 5 pages left in the book and I'm thinking to myself, "where is this unexpected tragedy??" No offense to the coach's wife, but she died before the book even started! And she had been sick! The back synopsis was definitely misleading, did they even read the book??

[Debbie]

I had exactly the same thought, and I kept waiting for the "unexpected tragedy". It wasn't until I was pretty far into the book that I realized it was referring to the death of Coach's wife, something that was certainly not "unexpected". So instead of things building to a peak, and then Shea dealing with the aftermath of an "unexpected tragedy", it turned out that that this tragedy actually occurred before the book began. And the entire book was just about a sheltered girl who had never left the town she grew up in. Pretty much a yawn.

[janet]

Jessica wrote: "I was eager to get to the "unexpected tragedy" that "strikes the tigh-knit Walker community" in the book (described in the synopsis)... Was it the death of Coach's wife?? Was it really unexpected..."

i totally agree with you and i am a cancer patient.

[Jeanyne]

I didn't even remember there was an "unexpected tragedy" so it obviously didn't make much of an impression on me. Couldn't say what it was. The whole book was weak to me. I'm a bit surprised it seems so popular.