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beautiful, even seductive, writing but tries too hard
“I was super patient with this book and it kept me going with the beauty of its writing. The whole plot on the surface sounded like a good idea, but there were times when I cared very little for any of the characters and what was happening. And the main character as an adolescent is completely unbelievable. Too smart and with it and sure of herself.
An amazon user wrote this on 2009-08-20.
Totally unrealistic. Sounded like she was in her 30s throughout the whole book and over-sexualized. So what--she's trying to pull one over on the male therapist and acts all sexy. Boring! I felt like the audience was SO predetermined--some upper class new england selfinvolved over educated repressed types who would be thrilled to read all this therapy and psychological babble because it spoke to their unhappy lives. Ms. Julavits would do well to expand her narrative reach beyond this very limited audience/topic and stop trying to be so hyper clever with her girl characters. The key is in the writing itself. ” -
Quirky and new
“The characters in this novel are complex, like puzzles. It's appropriate that one third of the book takes place in a psychiatrist's office, as he attempts (but fails miserably) to solve the mystery of the main character. And he, too, has skeletons in his closet and too much to prove.
An amazon user wrote this on 2009-04-11.
The mother, whose funeral opens the tale, is one of the more interesting characters I've read - even though she is only there in the others' memories and stories.
Touching on repressed sexuality, power dynamics, and compulsions, I found this novel dark, funny, and always intriguing.” -
I was not enchanted.
“I completely agree with other reviewers who had difficulty finding any likeable characters in this book. I listened to it on tape, and kept waiting for someone to come along to ally myself with, or something to happen to pull it all together, but was disapppointed repeatedly. And I completely agree that the premise presented on the cover was much more interesting than the book itself. What a shame.”
An amazon user wrote this on 2008-11-19. -
1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
Irritating but oddly held my interest
“I, like many of the readers here, keep the pages turning only because I felt compelled to find out what exactly was the truth. I kept this up until the end and unfortunatley am still not sure what exactly happened! Not a good end to a reading experience!
An amazon user wrote this on 2008-07-11.
All the characters were irritating and the thing that was the most ridiculous was the banter between Mary and Dr Hammer. I doubt that any therapist would let a patient of any age sit in their chair the first visit rather than tell them where they should be sitting. How would that hurt them? Each visit all Mary does is wander around his office and throw back at him all kinds of rude, crude and insulting verbage that we are supposed to believe comes from the mouth of a teen. C'mon!” -
0 of 2 members found this review helpful.
Beautiful, smart, perfect
“This novel was one of my favorite books of 2007. It's nearly perfect in its execution. It's tight, well-conceived, and deeply human. If you love to think and love narrators who think, I can't recommend it highly enough.”
An amazon user wrote this on 2008-04-15.
