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Liked It1 of 1 members found this review helpful “Goes well beyond the usual coming-of-age YA novel. Goes into the profound effects -- sometimes entirely negative -- of the female role models in a young woman's life. Gives you a nasty sense of where she is heading, considering the choices in front of her.” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It1 of 1 members found this review helpful “My advise is not read this novel. And now I am suspect of any who would recommend doing so. There are plenty of excellent novels that fill the same category as this one and should be read first: Mona Simpson's Anywhere But Here, even Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, or Lee's To Kill A...” see full review » see other reviews » |
Newest Reviews
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“It's definitely a man's world. This novel chronicles Astrid's move through four to five foster homes while her mother does time for murdering a pestering boyfriend. Though Astrid goes through many unpleasant experience, in the end she recognizes the lessons she's learned in each place. She takes a little bit away from each place and it becomes part of her character. A good read but will make you angry sometimes because of the treatment Astrid must endure.”
Wendy Bell wrote this review 7 days ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Exquisite writing!”
Vevah L wrote this review 8 days ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Loved it! It was riveting! I couldn't put it down. I was always on the edge waiting for the next house where Astrid will be dumped. I loved the contrasts of Ingrid and Claire. This novel taught me a lot. My favorite lines in the book are:
Bonch wrote this review 11 days ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
"Without my wounds, who am I?"
"Always learn poems by heart. They have to become the marrow in your bones. Like fluoride in the water, they'll make your soul impervious to the world's soft decay."”
“This is the sort of book that reminds us why words are always more than the things they point to. Sometimes you forget, and books like this charge you with the task of remembering what it meant to write for the first time.”
Mikaela wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“at the beginning of this book i was kind of turned off by the story because it was too typical for me but as i continued to read i started to get interested ”
Kristina C wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“So much better than the movie.”
Candy wrote this review Thursday, November 26 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“:For those who haven't read it:
Thomas Johnson wrote this review Wednesday, November 25 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
The first half is sustained by the protagonist's struggle with her mother, but is still repetitive and monotonously dark. It becomes a little more hopeful in the second half, when Fitch allows the character to mature and become less of a victim. A little melodramatic with touches of what I call the "artsy writer syndrome," in that Fitch neglects to end some sentences which should end in question marks with question marks. Still, a touching novel which provides some insight into the good and bad of human behavior. Despite its flaws, I recommend it for mature readers, though it's not good pick for anyone who would rather avoid explicit sexual and drug-related content.
:For Those Who Have Read It:
The first half of this novel is so relentlessly dark that it becomes almost predictable. The main character, Astrid, is continually betrayed by every person she places her trust in -- her mother first, and then a series of friends and foster parents. Fitch seems to be depicting a hell-world in which human selfishness will always overpower human love. Astrid's simultaneous resentment and love for her mother is what sustains these first guardianship episodes, as they seem to bring nothing but trauma to both Astrid and the reader.
Once Astrid meets Claire, her third guardian, the formula changes slightly and Fitch finally allows Astrid to feel something other than pain and confusion. The relationship she has with Claire is based on a love better and fuller than the abusive relationship she has with her mother, and her disturbing sexual relationships. While this guardianship, too, ends badly, it teaches Astrid how to empathize with another human being on a level she hadn't been able to previously.
Once Finch has brought Astrid to this point, the novel becomes less formulaic. Astrid finally meets a male who isn't conniving or selfish. Her living situation, while far from nurturing, provides her with a constant source of unsentimental affection. She is finally able to confront her mother on her own terms and admit that, while she will never fully escape her need for her, she can ultimately make her own choice.
Fitch gives the reader a tentatively happy ending: not a blank slate, but a sense of the trauma of the past conspiring to bring forth a better future. She doesn't entirely earn it -- while she attempts to demonstrate how all of Astrid's experiences were instrumental to her development, some of her early experiences with Starr and Marvel still seem a little melodramatic and gratuitous. Still, Astrid's final understanding that true happiness comes not from forgetting the past but from reconciling herself to it rang true to me, and ended the novel on a satisfying note.”
“My first adult read. It was captivating. not all grown up books are this good.”
Amala T wrote this review Wednesday, November 25 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“really really really good!”
Jackie Joy wrote this review Monday, November 23 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
