We live in a world that does not know what to do with Claire Lombardo books. After I read and adored her second novel, I wondered how I had missed theWe live in a world that does not know what to do with Claire Lombardo books. After I read and adored her second novel, I wondered how I had missed the first. And then I saw that cover and realized, Ah, right, I had thought it was a totally different kind of book and it was a fair conclusion based on the title, the cover, the summary, the everything. And if you really boil this book down then I suppose the title, the cover, the everything all fits. It isn't wrong, it just isn't right. Because this is not a cute little book. Lombardo writes Novels with a capital N. Big, meaty stories. And yes, they are about families, but they are filled with so much emotional richness that they more than earn their very long page count.
Lombardo got better with her second novel, moving backwards means this is a little bit of a step down. But I also got to see how she got better. I despised most of these characters, just could not stand them and often yelled at them. There is a pretty gloss on a lot of things here, just the most bare bones acknowledgement of privilege that rubbed me wrong many times. And it's more wrapped up with a nice little bow. But I was still addicted to this book, I wanted to be in it even when the characters in it were driving me up the wall. (I could go on and on about how much I did not like these four daughters. Especially Violet. How incredibly selfish and awful they are to a kid who has nothing when they have everything, and how they just keep acting that way over and over again. But I won't.)
What I really loved here was the way, once again, Lombardo opens up this family to you. The most effective arc is around Marilyn and David, as we keep flashing back to see them through the years as the family grows and changes. What's so interesting to me is that we start with the idea that Marilyn and David have a basically perfect marriage, that they are deeply in love after decades together. In fact, the most interesting arc for each of the daughters is how they struggle in the shadow of that, feeling that their parents' relationship is something they could never achieve themselves. But instead of pulling back the curtain to some big reveal where actually we see that Marilyn and David don't have the relationship we think (which is what 99,999 out of 100,000 stories do), instead we just get to see that yeah they have it pretty good. We see their wobbles and struggles, and then we see them move past them and keep moving forward. They are better partners than they are parents (big time, like please just parent your children effectively please lol) and they recognize that they just got really lucky that they happened to find each other. It isn't that they are the best people but together they have something singular. And it was strange and wonderful to get to see something that is just good.
I also love the breadth and depth of Lombardo's novels, really earning their length. There are a lot of things happening, it feels like real life, there are not expected beats but all kinds of ups and downs and twists and turns. You can't really apply an act structure. (You can even ignore Grace for what seemed like half the book, and yet when she's back we once again care!)
Her dialogue is great, her people feel like people. The characters are distinct. The real weakness is Jonah, who always functions as a device rather than a person. Being able to move through the Sorensen family without any real signs of deep trauma always left me feeling a little suspicious, would have liked to see Lombardo tweak the details here a little either around Jonah's background or his actions so that he felt real, but you can't deny the effectiveness of the device. (All my yelling about it shows that.)
Now that I've discovered Lombardo I'm mostly disappointed that now I am already done with just two novels and I'll likely have a few years to wait before the next one.
Also worth noting that the audio of both these novels is excellent, the reader really gets Lombardo's rhythms and creates distinct feelings and voices without being over the top....more
If I hadn't enjoyed Huang's previous novel NATURAL BEAUTY so much I'm not sure I would have stuck with this one. Eventually it has some interesting idIf I hadn't enjoyed Huang's previous novel NATURAL BEAUTY so much I'm not sure I would have stuck with this one. Eventually it has some interesting ideas but the writing is quite flat, the prose version of a monotone, measured and steady even when there is something extraordinary happening or a significant depth of feeling from the first person narrator. I never fully warmed up to it because of that voice, but I can't deny that I'm glad I finished it. Huang is grappling with interesting questions of art and authorship and creativity, questions that feel incredibly relevant in the present moment of AI.
Huang also successfully builds a whole near-future world of art and technology, both of which are incredibly difficult things to do. The art is most successful, and I'd argue the most difficult. And that was what kept drawing me back to the book, was the way Mathilde and Enka explored the possibilities of art and expression. The pieces Huang imagines are compelling enough to hang such a grand plot on, which is no small feat....more
2.5 stars. I thought Hawkins' two most recent novels got better and better so I figured I should go back to grab the one of hers that I missed. Except2.5 stars. I thought Hawkins' two most recent novels got better and better so I figured I should go back to grab the one of hers that I missed. Except turns out it's the weakest by a good stretch. I see signs of something interesting here, but it doesn't come together at all. The rift between the two sisters at the center of the story is the foundation it's all built on and when we finally get the details it isn't strong enough to build on and undercuts a lot of what we've already read. And that repeats itself several times. All the truths that come out don't feel true, the characters get more murky instead of more clear. Definitely one to skip if suicide isn't a topic you can stomach because it's everywhere....more
This book slowly wormed its way into me. The early scenes are loose, pearls on a string, but after that the book becomes much more focused. But those This book slowly wormed its way into me. The early scenes are loose, pearls on a string, but after that the book becomes much more focused. But those early scenes are important to start us out with childhood memory, something that almost feels like another world. That is when Margaret was hurt, and that hurt still defines her as we follow her decades later.
The descriptions of these books like to use words like "secrets" and "transgressions" but this bothers me. Let us be frank. This is a book about how Margaret was molested as a child, and how her mother chose to ignore it. It is not a book that is graphic or exploitative, and while these are heavy topics the book didn't make me feel weighed down. In some ways, Margaret's problems with her family will be relatable to many people. Even though hers are quite specific, like many families hers has decided to act like nothing has happened and Margaret has mostly gone along with it.
Now, as an adult, newly divorced and with a daughter coming close to the age she was at the time of her abuse, Margaret is seeing things a little differently. This is also a book about reexamination, the experience of midlife, seeing it all through a new lens.
It is not a book I feel like I should have to sell someone on because it is hard to sell. That is why the marketing department chooses words like "secrets" and "transgressions." But I found this book immensely readable, very poignant, and it's not trying to tell you that you should forgive the parents who treated you badly. It lets all these characters exist in their complexity, as recognizable people in recognizable situations. It lets old wounds echo and reopen....more
3.5 stars. Ayatsuji's House Murders series is a lot of fun. Hopefully you have already read The Decagon House Murders, and if so you will probably not3.5 stars. Ayatsuji's House Murders series is a lot of fun. Hopefully you have already read The Decagon House Murders, and if so you will probably not completely pass out once you see the house map in this book. A house map to end all house maps. It is a signal: buckle up.
Once again, Ayatsuji is playing with golden age mystery tropes and getting a little meta with the way readers and writers are obsessed with the genre. This has a couple very solid turns, though it's not trying very hard to keep the murderer a secret. But even if you are pretty sure the entire book that you know who did it, there is plenty to keep you entertained along the way.
I really hope we are getting the 4th book translated as well!...more
4.5 stars. Adored this. Apparently this book came out two years ago but I only heard about it last year. Regardless, I'm so glad I found my way to it 4.5 stars. Adored this. Apparently this book came out two years ago but I only heard about it last year. Regardless, I'm so glad I found my way to it and then back to it after putting it down initially. The length is daunting, I decided to read it on audio and this was a great decision.
Such a sneaky book, it really wormed its way into my heart so slowly. It does what it says it's going to do, gets into the heart of one particular dysfunctional family, but the way it opens up took me by surprise. After starting the book following teenage Cass and tween PJ, I thought I had a pretty good handle on this family. And then the section following mother Imelda just broke me wide open, showed me just how much I didn't know, all the intricacies under the surface that the children never see. And how much it went beyond just not understanding details of your parents' lives. And then when we got to father Dickie, I at least knew that this book would probably once again open up this character but this time I thought I was prepared, thought I probably had an idea of who he was. And once again just a heartbreaker. Followed by a finale with like five more heartbreakers.
Just the way Murray opens up these characters, shows you the surface, then what's beneath, then takes us back to all of their interactions where we can see all of it--what they show, what they hide--I can't remember the last time I saw switching characters used this effecitvely in a novel. It has started to feel like just a trick domestic thrillers use but here Murray gives a masterclass.
Feels like the kind of book you could recommend to all kinds of readers, you just have to make space for its high page count. And believe me I get that that isn't always a small ask. But this book really paid off, enjoyed it just immensely. Made me believe in what the novel is capable of....more
3.5 stars. Mostly because I liked the first half much more than the second. The first two books by Murata translated into English (CONVENIENCE STORE W3.5 stars. Mostly because I liked the first half much more than the second. The first two books by Murata translated into English (CONVENIENCE STORE WOMAN and EARTHLINGS) felt wildly different to me. But now with VANISHING WORLD I see them as much more connected, this book serves as a kind of bridge between the two. It has the more fantastical elements of EARTHLINGS and the consideration of societal expectations of CSW. Put the three together and you can see that Murata is bringing a keen eye to consider gender, sex, romance, and family in Japanese society.
Once again our protagonist, Amane, is an outsider in many ways. In a world where children are conceived via artificial insemination, where sex is frowned upon as an outdated instinct, especially within the family, Amane continues to fall in love with people and have sexual desire. (Many people around her either fall in love only with animated characters or their romantic love with other people is sexless.) She does her best to fit in, with a marriage and a plan for children the way everyone else does. Much of the book is just following Amane through life, seeing her in comparison to those around her. Eventually a big part of the plot is Experiment City, a place where these new societal norms are taken to a new level. There, away from the push of normalcy she has tried to follow, Amane finds herself forced to examine her own desires.
Murata is doing something so interesting here, writing about sex without eroticism. Imagining sex in a world without the erotic. Where sex is not shunned as a sin but treated like a base instinct that people should have moved past by now. Nothing she writes is titillating, though she writes quite graphically about sex several times in the book. (Some of these scenes involve minors, and honestly if you have any real sensitivity around the subject I would probably give this one and Murata generally a miss because this is really what she wants to dive into.)
I think this could be a really interesting pairing with HUNCHBACK by Saou Ichikawa, which is also out in early 2025. They are both examining womanhood and desire in Japanese society, the role of sex and bodies, even if they are approaching it with very different angles and aims....more
A short one, but very enjoyable. That idea that a memoir is just a person telling you a story about themselves is thrown around a lot, but listening tA short one, but very enjoyable. That idea that a memoir is just a person telling you a story about themselves is thrown around a lot, but listening to Blei that is really what it feels like. Having her as a reader makes her feel like a friend by the end. Quite a compliment. This is funny and poignant, would have liked a little more of what happens after she realizes she's gone about this all the wrong way....more
2.5 stars. I think we need to call a moratorium on Meta Murder Mysteries. This one, in many ways, is more successful than the others I've read in the 2.5 stars. I think we need to call a moratorium on Meta Murder Mysteries. This one, in many ways, is more successful than the others I've read in the last few years. But even if it is not a terrible concept, in the end it is just gimmick and not much else. Sometimes a concept is not enough to sustain a whole novel without delivering something deeper to the reader.
On the plus side, this has a strong beginning, introduces us to the characters well, and is striving for something more human than the snark that, for some of the others in this subgenre, is all the have to offer. Hegarty knows her golden age mysteries well, and while she's playing with the ever popular locked room here, she is clearly writing for a modern audience. The theories and possible devices involved are much more simple and straightforward than you'd see in an actual golden age story. (This is not such a bad thing, they were honestly exhausting.) The locked room story, and many other golden age stories, are often questions of suicide or murder as this one is, so the device makes sense.
It could have ended up as a 3 star for me, but the last third of the novel, when we have fully realized what Hegarty is doing and the point she wants to make, the device actually works against that point. It becomes dull repetition rather than a real emotional reckoning. I think there could be a good book in here, but it would need to either take the device somewhere new that is more in service of the story or abandon it entirely. I did not have much good will left by the time it was over. ...more
High concept, structurally complex literary fiction is so tricky. It tends to send readers in drastically different directions in response. And this wHigh concept, structurally complex literary fiction is so tricky. It tends to send readers in drastically different directions in response. And this will be one of those for sure. It's a book that deliberately makes the narrative more obscure, more confusing rather than offering the gradual increase in clarity we expect from a novel. I loved it.
At one point, near the end of a novel, is a scene so baffling that I could have responded with anger and frustration. At this moment, as a reader, you simply must surrender to the book. You can no longer fight it, no longer try to impose your own expectations on it. You have to give up and say, "I have no idea what you are actually doing here, Katie Kitamura, and I think that is the point." Or at least, I did. Does that sound terrible? I suppose it does. I admit that I often enjoy novels that work as puzzles to be solved, and the idea of one that refuses any kind of clear solution can be a real frustration. But one of the things about my brain that works so hard and loves sussing things out is that it also loves to just stop and give up and let go for a little while. By refusing to be solved, this book just let me have an experience. And that is, ultimately, the thing I want most from a novel.
At the heart of all of this is so much about art, about performance, about perception. Secrets and long relationships. The choices we make and the paths we never took. It is not that I think Kitamura wants to give us any particular theme or insight around these topics, instead she teases them out, lets us consider them, lets us see just how much we know and then takes it all away from you.
Her prose, as always, is beautiful, spare, propulsive. It made me want to go back and reread INTIMACIES, which I enjoyed very much. And honestly I would not be surprised if I sit down with this one again to see what experience I have next time. ...more
So many people I know loved this book so much and I thought it was... fine. I just didn't get Cyrus, not his aimlessness or his obsession with death. So many people I know loved this book so much and I thought it was... fine. I just didn't get Cyrus, not his aimlessness or his obsession with death. Especially not his obsession with death and finding meaning in death, when I could never figure out what he thought that meaning was or why he thought it mattered. I actively didn't like the ending, which felt oddly on the nose for a book that had been so poetical before that.
I did really enjoy the Leila sections.
Books by poets can be very hit or miss for me. Something about my non-poetry brain can feel like we are on entirely different wavelengths and this was definitely one of those times. The plot didn't feel right, the prose was good but didn't activate much in me. And when that happens, my brain just gets more frustrated. How does Cyrus make money? I wonder. What does he do all day? That's not what I'm supposed to be thinking but the book didn't fill me up enough to get what I needed. ...more
A lot of people are going to like this book very much. It's just really not for me.
The core of the book is a strong idea with a lot of potential, whicA lot of people are going to like this book very much. It's just really not for me.
The core of the book is a strong idea with a lot of potential, which is why I tried it even though I have not been a big Wending reader in the past. The characters are solid starting points, and there are some quite good turns of the plot that I admired. But it's a classic case of horror novel bloat. I think this would have been most effective as a novella, and there's an alternate universe version of this book that is trimmed down and tightened up that I could see myself really loving. Latch on to the core of the concept, include the best of the plot twists. The only thing that needs to be fleshed out here is the character development, but that is more about quality than quantity. The quantity there is also much more than is needed, a lot of mileage but not much of a journey.
This is also a Trauma Book. Which is becoming more of a thing in horror these days, but I'm starting to look back fondly on the days when horror was about finding metaphors for trauma rather than just straight up piling on the trauma. Without spoiling the book (and it is much better to go in completely cold) along the journey is one terrible situation after another, scenario after scenario of pain and torture and death and hatred. It is a lot to go through so much of it and while there is A Point as far as the major plot is concerned, I did not feel like it was all really necessary. Diving into all the details of the Awful Traumas did not scare me or thrill me or keep me in suspense. It was more like a list of awful, and that is not terribly compelling.
The emotional journey of these characters is also quite basic. Very much a 101 Emotional Intelligence kind of thing. That said, a lot of mainstream horror doesn't even get that far, so the fact that Wendig is so blatant about it, not bothering to use metaphor at all, is going to be what appeals to a lot of people. For a lot of readers it'll open up something and feel honest in a way they may have not found elsewhere. And I'm happy for them. But there is plenty of horror that deals with emotions in nuanced and complex ways, and that is much more my speed.
I think maybe it's time we call a moratorium on the Group of Friends With Two Timelines book. I get it, we all read IT, but I have read a lot of these in the last few years and only one (2024's THE DISSONANCE) worked for me. This one didn't need the flashbacks or needed to make the past version more interesting and fleshed out, but as is it didn't work well....more
I put down Hollinghurst's previous novel, and at first I put this one down, too. The historical coming-of-age novel of a gay, British man felt like soI put down Hollinghurst's previous novel, and at first I put this one down, too. The historical coming-of-age novel of a gay, British man felt like something I'd already seen Hollinghurst do before. But I picked this one back up on audio and was happy I did. Because we are lucky to get these novels, even if they do tend to fall into the same category in many ways. It's always good to have a good novel and this one is good in the kind of way that it's hard to find any fault with it at all. It manages to cover more than 50 years of British life, how one becomes an artist, the clash of the political and the personal, and show us multiple versions of gay life.
While the book is framed by David's interactions with Giles Hadlow, a bully from wealthy, liberal parents who grows up to become a Brexiteering imbecile, Giles is much more background than foreground. A way for us to mark time and see how the world changes. (We mostly skip the Thatcher years.) What I found much more absorbing was David's relationship with his mother, not only a single white woman raising a biracial child, but a queer woman who manages to build a life of her own. David is aware of his own sexual identity even while he remains oblivious to his mother's, and the book lets us see and imagine her while also keeping us limited to David's perspective.
Just a Very Good novel, one I listened to on audio (Very Good reader as well) and was always happy to come back to. Which certainly isn't always the case with a 500-ish page story that isn't heavy on traditional plot. Was a real joy to finish the year with it and a reminder to come back to books that require a little patience.
Cheating and putting this on my Best of 2024 list since I mostly listened to it that year....more
I'm currently looking at my computer screen, staring at the stars above the little review box here on goodreads dot com, wondering how on earth I shouI'm currently looking at my computer screen, staring at the stars above the little review box here on goodreads dot com, wondering how on earth I should rate this book. (Reader, you already know the answer, but for me it's a mystery I hope to figure out by the time I finish writing this review.) Because I think Alderton has done what she set out to do, I think she's executed it quite successfully. It's just that I don't think what she wants to do is worth doing. I refuse the entire premise.
For a little while I thought maybe this was a romcom (I went in totally cold, I have not read any of Alderton's other work and know of her only vaguely) but after a bit I realized that we were doing something more interesting. Oh boy! Hooray! A legit character study. And as we followed Andy I was really up for it. Yes, yes, I thought, let us see just how ridiculous these straight men are about love. It was so clear to me how Andy exemplified so much of what is wrong with the whole lot of them.
He obsesses over Jen. He thinks of her constantly. And yet, after a few hundred pages of this we know almost nothing about her. Who is she? What is so interesting about her? He likes having a girlfriend, this is quite clear, Andy is a serial monogamist without question. There are little anecdotes so bland and basic that they could be any couple of about the same age.
The more we see Andy the more I wondered, why on earth did Jen stay with this guy? It is hard to figure out what Andy has to offer. Sure, he's got some general good qualities, but he doesn't seem to have anything interesting to say. He has no hobbies. He doesn't really DO anything. He's a blandly nice guy, basically, though not a level of nice that would merit the word "kind." How is this man interesting enough to keep around for 4 years?
And as we went along I really appreciated what Alderton was doing, really breaking down how shallow this kind of man is and how limited his view is of this woman he claims to love so deeply. How his months-long breakdown is about a fictional woman he has invented in his head, it's about his own need for someone else to manage his life, it is about not having to do anything to take care of himself or work on his own feelings. And then.
And then I started to worry.
Is this what Alderton is doing? I wondered. At first I was so confident but as time passed I worried. Andy didn't seem to be improving, Were we going to get a chance to see him figure himself out? What would the point of all this be? Why did it feel like we were starting to veer more into cute eccentric and possibly twee territory? Because it was a takedown of Andy, right? Right??
No, friends, it is not. Although it is absolutely possible to read it this way until nearly the end. At the end of the book we have a shift in the narrative which does not do anything useful unless you have not been paying attention. Or unless you've found Andy charming in a failure-to-launch kind of way. If you like Andy and think he's a good guy then the end will give you a new look at him and allow you to see how he has Grown and Changed. But if you think Andy is a pretty terrible boyfriend and that you wouldn't want any friend of yours to date him, then the end is a real bummer. Because the end thinks Andy is actually really a great guy and that he has done the work to be better the way you should during a breakup. And I am sorry but I disagree. Andy has not done the work. He has merely waited it out to the point where the grief no longer feels overwhelming. Remembering that it is also hard to dump someone is not a significant insight, it is a very simple act of considering anyone else's circumstances but your own. You cannot just (view spoiler)[write new material about your breakup for your standup comedy (hide spoiler)] and be like Wow look at how mature and emotionally developed I am. Because I absolutely Do Not Believe that Andy would do a good job! It wouldn't be interesting or funny or anything.
Nothing about the end of this book worked for me. Instead I realized that Alderton and I had been on drastically different pages.
And I suppose I do need to give her credit because she did the thing she wanted to do. She really gets us into Andy's head and shows us the world of a breakup from his point of view. It just requires you to think that Andy is lovable. And I disagree. I think women deserve better than the Andy's of the world! And I think Alderton and Jen and everyone else over 30 is old enough to know.
Where are we ending up star-wise? Ugh I still don't know. I suppose my first rule of reviewing is to use my experience, to be as subjective as I want to be. So here we are, I think that forces me to go 2, even though I feel like I am being a little mean. I may not like Andy at all but I don't think Alderton as a writer is unlovable....more
I enjoyed this but I just want to note that everyone is calling this a "thriller" and it is not! There was about 100 pages where I was very tense and I enjoyed this but I just want to note that everyone is calling this a "thriller" and it is not! There was about 100 pages where I was very tense and very involved, but most of the book was not like that. Do not go in expecting to be frantically turning pages.
My big issue is actually all of the long leadup to Challenger, everything before those very tense pages as we got close to launch. There is a lot of material to cover. The history of the space program, the specifics of the engineering to make the shuttle, the inner workings of NASA, and the thousands of people along the way. I never felt like I was being pulled through a real narrative until we were close to launch. We hopped in and out of personal anecdotes, no person on the page stays around long enough to become a person you feel like you know. This isn't really Higginbotham's fault, the scope of the story he is trying to tell is massive. But I wanted to feel more like I was being directed through the story, like he had found me a narrative path, and I didn't feel that way. Maybe that's impossible with this much ground to cover.
The details of the launch, from the leadup to the investigation, are different. We really get to dive in in such a way that I finally felt satisfied. If anything I was just frustrated that this was the first time we got to really see how the decisionmaking processes worked, that there was not a clear enough contrast between how NASA said it should operate and how it actually operated. But this section is quite thorough, and absolutely devastating. Just the kind of book where you are constantly saying things out loud because it's so sad and awful and you can't believe people are behaving this way.
I am not sure there is a better way to present all this material, and this should satisfy most readers who want to feel like they really understand the disaster. I'm one of the kids who watched the Challenger disaster on television in my 1st grade classroom, and while it imprinted on me (one of my first memories!) my knowledge of it has grown very fuzzy and I appreciated the ability to correct a lot of my mis-rememberings....more
Another sharp and slim read from Brown. Very different from ASSEMBLY, though it also considers questions of class and success. The beginning is a longAnother sharp and slim read from Brown. Very different from ASSEMBLY, though it also considers questions of class and success. The beginning is a longform piece of journalism, and the remaining parts show us the writer and her subjects through a different lens. It lets us ask questions about the state of media, about criticism and commentary, about how politics can infuse the way stories are told even when it doesn't seem like it on the surface.
I don't know British media well enough to know if there are specific figures Brown is basing these characters on or how much it resembles the larger picture, but there is enough that is familiar for it to really hit. There are questions here of messaging, of who is using who, of what the message behind a story actually is, and which stories get told.
It strikes me as a little strange that we haven't had more novels about media given the upheaval its had in the last twenty years and the now-constant question of bias. Would love to see more if they can be as smart and savvy as Brown can....more
My 3 star review of this is ENTIRELY the fault of the circumstances in which I read it. Specifically that I did it on audio, which I don't recommend! My 3 star review of this is ENTIRELY the fault of the circumstances in which I read it. Specifically that I did it on audio, which I don't recommend! It's not that it's bad, it's fine (nothing amazing, but nothing terrible) but that I don't think a puzzle mystery is suited to audio. You can't miss any details, you need to pay close attention, and you want to be able to slow down and even flip back to previous parts. Not only did I listen, but I listened while traveling, meaning I was often distracted and had to rewind over and over again.
It was a bummer because, I realized at the end of this book, this is basically a YA Westing Game. It is very rare to find a book that actually has Westing Game vibes and that is as committed to them as this book is while also being able to tweak and revamp and modernize and create something that is fulfilling on its own. I would love to have read this in print and enjoy its playful absurdity, its world building, its over the top characters the way I think they should be.
There are not enough puzzle mysteries. Every new one is worth celebrating. And this one, despite the bits I missed, seemed like a really solid one....more
Really enjoyed the first half of this, following Sanjana as she wanders through a tumultuous time in her life, with a kind of uncanny weirdness poppinReally enjoyed the first half of this, following Sanjana as she wanders through a tumultuous time in her life, with a kind of uncanny weirdness popping up over and over. But the second half, which I thought would crack the whole thing open, was sadly quite dull. It's very hard to talk about because they are almost two entirely different novels and not knowing what happens in the second part is critical to enjoying the first part.
But the second part, though on paper it sounds like there is a whole lot to sink your teeth into, ended up falling entirely flat. I didn't understand what the point was, I kept waiting for Sanjana to grapple with something or discover something but she just wanders through this part of the book, too. I expected some real consideration of the book's themes, of its questions of motherhood and fulfillment, but it all stayed very much on the surface.
It's strange, because if I were to describe the novel to you it would sound like Sathian is doing something very interesting, and there are elements that I found quite interesting. Her play with the author-as-character alone is worth attention. I noted in my review of Sathian's first novel, GOLD DIGGERS, how much I enjoyed its straightforward consideration of its themes. In some ways this novel is just as straightforward and yet in some ways it never really dives in at all, just dances around them. ...more
2.5 stars. The problem with the We Did A Bad Thing novel is that the tension of the coverup can only last so long before it starts to feel repetitive.2.5 stars. The problem with the We Did A Bad Thing novel is that the tension of the coverup can only last so long before it starts to feel repetitive. You could have removed entirely one of the two middle sections of this novel and I would have liked it a lot more. Instead we felt very stuck in Will Someone Find Out for so long that I was having trouble caring about it anymore.
There are a lot of things I liked here. There's an almost operatic or Greek feeling to the Brooklyn Boyle paints, where everyone knows everyone and no one can ever escape their mistakes. But many of our central characters stayed quite wooden, especially Risa and Chooch. It's understandable that they stay the exact same people even though 2 decades or so pass in this book, given the way trauma can leave you stuck. But they start out so one note that we just kind of stay there. Giulia opens up more, and in the last two sections we get the best and most interesting view of Fab, the clearly doomed son where the question is only how and when it will end badly.
This really needed a tighter edit, not just removing one of those middle sections, but so much of the book is just one of the characters thinking about things. There is so much thinking and daydreaming and the book is much better when there is action....more