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book_concierge's review
4.0
Astrid narrates this tale of her journey through a series of foster homes in the six years following her mother’s imprisonment for murdering an ex-lover.
Ingrid Magnussen is the quintessential free spirit. Pale, with vivid blue eyes, and nearly white blond hair, she is wraithlike and beautiful; a single mother who is devoted to her only child, Astrid. Ingrid frequently spouts her philosophy that women should be strong and that they do not need the love of a man to flourish. Then Barry Kolker enters their lives, and Ingrid falls hard. When Barry stops calling, Ingrid cannot let go. Eventually her obsession with revenge leads her to concoct a poison of oleander blossoms, and Astrid is left to the foster care system when Ingrid is sent to prison.
Astrid’s experiences are at times horrific, but there are moments of warmth as well. She finds the strength to survive and even flourish for a while. The result is a young woman who is still far from the promise of her talent and intellect, but able finally to confront her mother.
It’s a powerful story, and well-written. The ending feels a little forced, however, wrapping up a bit too quickly.
Ingrid Magnussen is the quintessential free spirit. Pale, with vivid blue eyes, and nearly white blond hair, she is wraithlike and beautiful; a single mother who is devoted to her only child, Astrid. Ingrid frequently spouts her philosophy that women should be strong and that they do not need the love of a man to flourish. Then Barry Kolker enters their lives, and Ingrid falls hard. When Barry stops calling, Ingrid cannot let go. Eventually her obsession with revenge leads her to concoct a poison of oleander blossoms, and Astrid is left to the foster care system when Ingrid is sent to prison.
Astrid’s experiences are at times horrific, but there are moments of warmth as well. She finds the strength to survive and even flourish for a while. The result is a young woman who is still far from the promise of her talent and intellect, but able finally to confront her mother.
It’s a powerful story, and well-written. The ending feels a little forced, however, wrapping up a bit too quickly.
octobah's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Murder, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, and Death
hharperlee's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
fayetree's review
5.0
*spoilers*
mother-daughter relationships make me so sick. i actually can’t read about them because i will cry.
the way i despise ingrid so much yet feel such sympathy for her at times— how she perfectly encapsulates so many women who weren’t meant/didn’t want to be mothers but who had to be, how they feel like their personhood is taken from them, and sometimes they try with all they can to give their children a good life, but that’s not always enough. the idea that you’ll meet someone and fall in love and have children and live happily ever after and then that doesn’t happen, but still you’re stuck taking care of a child alone because that’s a woman’s job and the men just get to go on with their lives like nothing happened. and then there’s the children who are stuck living their lives feeling like a burden, everyday waiting to be abandoned, trying with all they have to be perfect so that they’ll feel the unconditional love they so desire and deserve.
astrid deserves the world, so many times in this book my heart broke for her. she was taken advantage of in so many ways by so many different people and it’s so sad. i really love that no matter what she went through, and despite what she sometimes thought, she remained a kind hearted person. the way she always took the role of a caregiver, when no one ever took care of her. my heart truly aches for her.
on another note, the writing in the book is so beautiful. not only for the fact that it read like poetry, but because it didn’t feel pretentious in the slightest. it was beautiful and meaningful, yet easy to understand, which i think is very important and rare.
this is the kind of book that makes me want to become a writer yet never write again because i know i could never create something quite as beautiful.
that’s all. it’s 3am, i love this book, and could talk about it for hours, but again, 3am.
paul trout <3
yvonne <3
mother-daughter relationships make me so sick. i actually can’t read about them because i will cry.
the way i despise ingrid so much yet feel such sympathy for her at times— how she perfectly encapsulates so many women who weren’t meant/didn’t want to be mothers but who had to be, how they feel like their personhood is taken from them, and sometimes they try with all they can to give their children a good life, but that’s not always enough. the idea that you’ll meet someone and fall in love and have children and live happily ever after and then that doesn’t happen, but still you’re stuck taking care of a child alone because that’s a woman’s job and the men just get to go on with their lives like nothing happened. and then there’s the children who are stuck living their lives feeling like a burden, everyday waiting to be abandoned, trying with all they have to be perfect so that they’ll feel the unconditional love they so desire and deserve.
astrid deserves the world, so many times in this book my heart broke for her. she was taken advantage of in so many ways by so many different people and it’s so sad. i really love that no matter what she went through, and despite what she sometimes thought, she remained a kind hearted person. the way she always took the role of a caregiver, when no one ever took care of her. my heart truly aches for her.
on another note, the writing in the book is so beautiful. not only for the fact that it read like poetry, but because it didn’t feel pretentious in the slightest. it was beautiful and meaningful, yet easy to understand, which i think is very important and rare.
this is the kind of book that makes me want to become a writer yet never write again because i know i could never create something quite as beautiful.
that’s all. it’s 3am, i love this book, and could talk about it for hours, but again, 3am.
paul trout <3
yvonne <3
geeyouknit's review
5.0
whew this book !! definitely my most dog-eared and underlined read in a minute! I turned the story over in my mind even when I wasn’t reading- I just wanted to get back to it asap.
I have a feeling this will be a re-read…it was an engaging and fascinating look at a young woman growing up with simultaneously too many and not enough mothers over the course of her adolescence; what really captured me was the fact that Astrid, instead of being hardened by her life’s difficulties, is softened in many ways into a deeply caring person- to the point of heartbreaking empathy.
beyond that, the prose is beautifully written; everything is described in a rich and specific way that really made me feel immersed.
DEF knew by a couple chapters in that this would be 5/5!!
I have a feeling this will be a re-read…it was an engaging and fascinating look at a young woman growing up with simultaneously too many and not enough mothers over the course of her adolescence; what really captured me was the fact that Astrid, instead of being hardened by her life’s difficulties, is softened in many ways into a deeply caring person- to the point of heartbreaking empathy.
beyond that, the prose is beautifully written; everything is described in a rich and specific way that really made me feel immersed.
DEF knew by a couple chapters in that this would be 5/5!!
avid_read's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
darcieeb's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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
4.25
averypaige's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
qwrtymay's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A truly mesmerizing experience from beginning to end. The events that unfolded one by one made me more attentive to the world Janet Fitch built
iloveladybugs08's review
4.0
This book was so interesting and unique. It was chosen for our book club and I’m so happy I finished it. Astrid is so lost in the world. This book is about her trying to find herself through all of her foster homes. This book was a very different reading style than I am used to reading. I enjoyed the layout of the novel. However, I had a difficult time getting into the story. It was hard in the beginning because the story felt like it was her mother’s. As if Astrid had no voice of her own. She was her mother’s shadow. As her mother goes to prison, she starts learning how to have her own voice. She starts figuring herself out through all of these different foster moms. All of them teaching her something different. How to love, how to trust, how to survive. Of course her mother is always influencing her choices and decisions. I loved how artistic the novel was. I enjoyed the poetry throughout as well. I would rate it a 8/10.