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lolaleviathan's review against another edition
3.0
This book was a lot of fun, but like a lot of sci-fi-esque novels that use a wacky trope to explore pertinent Social Issues (which is almost all sci-fi-esque novels), it fell short for me. I loved the idea of the Atonement (the US bombing itself to atone for dropping the big ones on Japan) and the way conjoined twins could function as a symbol of all kinds of minority identities). I'm into exploring the whole otherness=monstrosity thing, and she did a lot of funny stuff with it on the surface, but it just didn't gel for me. Plus the characters and plot also felt spotty and half-realized. I loved Nora's first-person narrative voice, and the "scrapbook" sections. I felt Jackson reaching--this is an incredibly ambitious novel, and that's hard to pull off. I enjoyed Half Life, but I wanted to love it.
harmonybat's review
4.0
This is a terrifying look at the boundary between self and other exploded. It's the story of conjoined twins Blanche and Nora and what it takes for them to start looking for themselves and each other. It's a tale of casual murder and the blowback from hollow friendships. It's a book I loved and can't imagine recommending very much at all.
apatrick's review
1.0
I had to power through this one, just to get it done. Promising start, but it never panned out. One of a pair of conjoined twins wants to behead the other one, because she's been "sleeping" for something like 15 years. All through the book, the question was, "is she going to do it or not?" Eventually, we found out why Blanche was sleeping, but that wasn't explored as much as it could have been. Margaret Atwood would have written this book better. I left it tucked into the pocket of the seat in front of me on the plane.
hyzenthlay76's review
2.0
I could give this one more star for weirdness alone, but when it comes down to what I really value in a story, this one didn't have it. I didn't care about the characters, other than a morbid fascination with what they would do or say next. Jackson is wildly imaginative, her Siamese musings incredible, her wordplay cunning and acrobatic, but I never got lost in the story. Jackson was too predominant a personality in her own work and I just kept thinking "wow, she's clever!" It drips with subculture dogma and some of the sexuality was off the deep end. The book was also about 100 pages too long, and the ending a complete surrealist disaster.
rdebner's review against another edition
3.0
I agree with the person who recommended this book to me. She got to the end, where there is a curveball, and said "WTF???" It is literally the last sentence of the book and it throws the whole narrative into doubt. I was following most of the narrative pretty well, and then about 3/4 of the way in, it adopted a sort of dream-like or hallucinogenic quality to it. It was an interesting book.
ivyegraves's review against another edition
4.0
Overall I thought this book had a amazing concept. I loved the character developed and the flash back showing how the twins grew up. I only complaints I have are about the end of the book. I grew very confused about what was reality and what was Blanche's dream world, or if Nora was just crazy. I would have liked a solid ending to this book. Did Blanche take over? Did she die? What about Mooncow, was he returned to Audrey? Like I said the book had an overall amazing concept and writing style.
survivalisinsufficient's review against another edition
4.0
My friend Sam told me about this book - set in San Francisco, alternate world where there are a relatively large number of Siamese twins with one body and two heads. Umm, that was pretty much all I needed to hear to check it out from the library. Anyway, there's some great writing here, but it's a little messy in parts, especially in the latter half of the book. Still, I am so sold on the concept that I really liked it. Even Goodreads describes it as Geek Love + Middlesex - what's not to like?!
shnuggs's review against another edition
3.0
Weird. I was drawn to the book because of the main theme - conjoined twins. Who isn't fascinated by conjoined twins? The main characters are Blanche and Nora (get it - white and black - lots of cool stuff like that in the book). Nora wants to have a twin-ectomy in essence, as Blanche has been in a vegetative state for years - or has she? There's lots of stuff about atomic energy, "twofer" politics and dollhouses. Like I said at the beginning - weird. But well written. One of the author's other "books" is a series of tattoos that tell a story - I'll have to check that out!
msjenne's review against another edition
Okay, so this won the Tiptree award, which is usually a good indicator of something interesting.
And it is an interesting idea: that there are a lot more conjoined twins in the world (because of radioactivity or something), so they've become a vocal minority like gay people.
Except that this is pretty much the ONLY idea in the book, and sure it's fun to imagine all the many, many different aspects of gay culture that could apply to conjoined twins, but you can't write a symphony using just one note.
Also, she seems to be a victim of Look-At-Me-I'm-A-Writer! syndrome. For example:
"Once, I plunged my right hand wrist-deep in a red ant den. Blanche did not move or cry, though a sun boiled at the end of that arm. I was the one who yanked out the swollen pentapod, brushed off the myrmidons sleeving our forearm in fire."
Jeez, lady. Calm down.
And it is an interesting idea: that there are a lot more conjoined twins in the world (because of radioactivity or something), so they've become a vocal minority like gay people.
Except that this is pretty much the ONLY idea in the book, and sure it's fun to imagine all the many, many different aspects of gay culture that could apply to conjoined twins, but you can't write a symphony using just one note.
Also, she seems to be a victim of Look-At-Me-I'm-A-Writer! syndrome. For example:
"Once, I plunged my right hand wrist-deep in a red ant den. Blanche did not move or cry, though a sun boiled at the end of that arm. I was the one who yanked out the swollen pentapod, brushed off the myrmidons sleeving our forearm in fire."
Jeez, lady. Calm down.