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Boys meets Watchman

Passable. The alternating 2nd person narrative isn't helping.

Poetry Assignment #4... that's how this whole book reads, like a school assignment. There's a narrative core to some of these that's worth fleshing out, but the poetry itself - if you can call it that - is overdone and banal.

This beautiful book is beginning to lose focus for me. It does tie to a specific event almost dead center, so maybe there's a good reason for it.

Incredibly over-written

words and music-not really a story, but had some good stuff in it

I mean, Trump is mentioned by name... who wants to read about Trump in poetry. Well, you don't have to! This isn't poetry. It's political posturing in flowery but weak prose. "Let's Remake America Great" is a perfect example of all that's wrong with this book. You can get this stuff on Twitter and in the papers. Posterity will not be kind to this book.

Getaway and Dennisport good and just okay respectively. Where will all will be I thought was pretty creepy. Tremblay mostly does a good job with his 'non' endings, something other horror writers struggle with.

love it, but it does start to settle into a less interesting rhythm with Roots

Growing Things - didn't like it
Swim story - liked it.
Bird story - good setup, didn't like the ending
I mean, I see that these are all working in their own ways. I like that they are trying new things. They're not all working, but I'd rather them fail to fully deliver something new than just tell me something i already know.

Dialectic-good sketch
Sentimental Education- really drew me in. Solid story, powerful writing. not a subject matter I care to much about, but interesting/offputing
Lazy River - funny, with excellent moments, though almost not a story, no characters really. Almost an essay in allegory or something.

This is a collection I'm going to want to reread at some point.

Not good.

Quote on page 132-133 blew me away. The invasion of second homes.

"And the forest they might remake he can almost smell - resinous, fresh, thick with yearning, sap of a fruit that is no fruit, the scent of Christmases endlessly older than Christ."

A cumbersome but rewarding style. Had to reread the prologue completely after reading chapter two. Good female lead. A nice mix of stereotype and flamboyant uniqueness.

Great start

Excellent

the adolescent sex fantasy stuff really stands out to me in a not positive way.

Took a long break. I like this, but its been hard for me to keep focus on it. Shepard always writes dense, but here the story seems kinda buried.

Initially, I really disliked this. But it's won me over. Took about 40 pages.