3.68 AVERAGE

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Excellent. Kept me guessing and hooked, even though I moved cross country while reading it. Well-drawn main character, especially considering the cross-gender writing. Disappointingly adolescent obsession with breasts, and overuse of italics, but these are minor criticisms.

Ouch

another good Irving book. not my favorite but still very compelling read. my main complaint is that (even as a lesbian myself) there are far too many mentions of women’s boobs. WE GET IT, she has nice boobs! get over it already

At first I felt this book contained too much detail on the sordid lives of the characters, but when I finished, it made me cry. It's message is definitely a condemnation of promiscuity, but goes about it in a very unique way. A lot of food for thought (or for a book discussion group!)
reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
dark emotional sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

I finished this one today. It was long, but I really enjoyed the uniqueness of it. So much goes on through the course of the book, and each character experiences a ton. I like that it's all action-based; despite how long it is, there's not a lot of summary.

I didn't really LIKE any of the characters, except Eduardo, who only had a bit part. And the first section is so dramatic and real, then afterwards everyone turns two-dimensional and just sort of drifts along.

I thought it was cool that Irving showed "samples" of the characters' writing, though I was bored by the long descriptions of it.

More than anything, I appreciate the sheer imagination behind this. I'd definitely read more by Irving.

I haven’t read a great deal of Irving’s work, but I know it’s held in high esteem.

I did enjoy the novel and the evolving plot very much. As the accusation of ill written and unbelievable female characters? Yes, I speak as a male reader but I certainly see variations in his portrayal of the various women in this book.