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3.16 AVERAGE
3.16 AVERAGE
Nope, this is too smart for me. I started reading this over the weekend and it felt like a chore. I thought I must be in a bad mood to not even want to read! Then I tried another book, and immediately got into the book. Monday morning, I opened the book again, only to struggle and think, what's the point? This is a book about a woman who has mother issues and is also a student psychic, being mentored by a psychic who looks like her mother. Everyone is very smart and academic (literally, they're all in an academic world, fighting over who is the class pet) and I feel like this might be a very good book for people who are into that. I'm not, so I'm giving myself permission to give up.
I enjoyed this book. I rather enjoyed the writing and the descriptions and the everything really.
But it was an odd story. And it was a bit circular. And if you weren't careful, it was just a bunch of nothing but flowery words (similar to the cover). But if you were careful, it was lovely. So I liked the lovely parts. But the mood that I was in, as I consumed it in a manner like I consume a secret chocolate bar, I didn't LOVE the hard work. Perhaps if I was eating my chocolate bar in the closet, alone, instead of cramming into my mouth and sitting on the couch while my children wrestled the dog on the seat beside me, I would have LOVED it.
But it was an odd story. And it was a bit circular. And if you weren't careful, it was just a bunch of nothing but flowery words (similar to the cover). But if you were careful, it was lovely. So I liked the lovely parts. But the mood that I was in, as I consumed it in a manner like I consume a secret chocolate bar, I didn't LOVE the hard work. Perhaps if I was eating my chocolate bar in the closet, alone, instead of cramming into my mouth and sitting on the couch while my children wrestled the dog on the seat beside me, I would have LOVED it.
This grew on me. At first it was too self-aware, too much like a Foreign Art Flick, in black and white, late at night, in the student union, with audience members in turtlenecks, but then it matured, or I did - and it's reasonably clever. Still not worth more than three stars, but it took one day to read, and I'm glad I did. And now somewhat ironic that reading Sylvia Plath is on my January to-do list.
This is a book that sounds more interesting when summarized - a psychic grad school! The Leni Riefenstahl of France! People undergoing plastic surgery to look like deceased or missing strangers! It seems to use an almost dream-logic, but lacks an abstract quality that would seemingly accompany such logic. It wasn't an unpleasant read, just one that seemed mildly like a chore.
I love Julavits, but this web of center-less grief wasn't my favorite and got a little murky ~halfway through.
That said, I will now think of the phrase "eyes starfished by mascara" every time I put makeup on.
A few other lines I enjoyed:
— "Clarity, it turns out, is a death sentence."
— "Because disambiguation recurs, after a time. Your life becomes your life and you need to leave it again."
— "I touched my cheek, always an alienating sensation. The anti-seizure meds numbed my skin; to touch my face was to enter a failed romance between body parts."
— "My poor father acted around me like a guy expecting to be dumped."
—"I ate the cold dinner Sun delivered while Borka flipped through her paper with the rage of old people in charge of television remotes."
— "She'd had a duty to be interested in me; that alone should have kept her alive, at least until my first Christmas, or until my first day of school, or until my first heartbreak, or until my first bad haircut, or until..."
That said, I will now think of the phrase "eyes starfished by mascara" every time I put makeup on.
A few other lines I enjoyed:
— "Clarity, it turns out, is a death sentence."
— "Because disambiguation recurs, after a time. Your life becomes your life and you need to leave it again."
— "I touched my cheek, always an alienating sensation. The anti-seizure meds numbed my skin; to touch my face was to enter a failed romance between body parts."
— "My poor father acted around me like a guy expecting to be dumped."
—"I ate the cold dinner Sun delivered while Borka flipped through her paper with the rage of old people in charge of television remotes."
— "She'd had a duty to be interested in me; that alone should have kept her alive, at least until my first Christmas, or until my first day of school, or until my first heartbreak, or until my first bad haircut, or until..."
The summary blurb of this book gives you the skeleton of the story. But it doesn't give credit for the writer's terrific imagination and humor. The story keeps you guessing - along with the protagonist, Julia - at what is going on! It does get complicated, and sometimes confusing, but it's a satisfying, if quirky read.
I really wanted to like this book. The paranormal? Check. Lively writing? Check. However, after the first 50 pages and there wasn't substantial movement beyond the ailments/drama/insanity of the protagonist and all of the people around her, I just wanted it to end but it felt as though it never would. I think it might have worked better as a short story.
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated