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mbenzz's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not really sure what to make of this story, but calling it "Hilarious, sensual, and charged with menace..." is not at all accurate.
1. There was nothing 'hilarious' about this story. Nothing. Not one thing.
2. Sensual? Again, nope. A 17/18-year-old girl obsessed with sleaze and her older step-cousin (her Aunts stepson) was not sensual. It was kind of gross.
3. Charged with menace...I mean, menace isn't the right word for what was happening on that island. At no time did I feel like anyone was in any real danger, even if that's what the author was trying to convey. It felt more like awkward discomfort.
Mira, our main character, is a complete weirdo obsessed with her step-cousin and all things 'sleazy'. She's working a summer job as the baker for the floundering Lavender Island Wilderness Lodge on a remote island off the Alaskan coast. Now, maybe I'm just too old (41) to really 'get' her, but she comes off as very naive and ridiculous. I kept telling myself that most girls her age are still trying to find themselves, so I tried to cut her some slack.
Maureen and Stu are in a marriage that is clearly over, but they still feel the need to put on a show for their dwindling guests. Erin, Polly, and Chef are the other employees, and they're all pretty one-dimensional.
I get Erin's job in the story. She's the hot young 'temptress' that lures Stu away from his wife and nothing more. The other two, though, are less defined. Polly's character diminishes a little more and a little more as the story goes on until finally, she's reduced to a near-catatonic child by the very end. Other than bringing Erin to the island with her, she serves no purpose. You could completely erase her from the story, and nothing would change.
The ending with Chef felt abrupt and out of place. You get through this entire story where nothing really happens until finally, in the last chapter, there's a bit of drama with a background character who was only just introduced a few pages before the book ended. It was a case of 'too-little-too-late' for me. I didn't feel any shock or concern because the characters involved were so minor, and the act was random and unintentional.
I think this would have made a better short story. As it is, nothing much happens. It's just a snapshot into the lives of 6 employees over the course of one Alaskan summer told by a teenager who isn't as philosophical as she thinks she is.
The writing isn't terrible. It has a vagueness that I don't particularly care for, but others may enjoy. I think my main problem here is, based on the description, I was expecting something similar to Christopher Moore or Carl Hiaasen, and that is NOT what I got, so I may be a tad bitter.
Overall though, while this wasn't my jam, I don't discourage anyone from reading it. I don't think the description does it much justice. If you like character studies or the slow, quiet deterioration of things, then you'll dig this. If you're looking for suspense and sensual drama, then you have come to the wrong place because you will not find it here.
1. There was nothing 'hilarious' about this story. Nothing. Not one thing.
2. Sensual? Again, nope. A 17/18-year-old girl obsessed with sleaze and her older step-cousin (her Aunts stepson) was not sensual. It was kind of gross.
3. Charged with menace...I mean, menace isn't the right word for what was happening on that island. At no time did I feel like anyone was in any real danger, even if that's what the author was trying to convey. It felt more like awkward discomfort.
Mira, our main character, is a complete weirdo obsessed with her step-cousin and all things 'sleazy'. She's working a summer job as the baker for the floundering Lavender Island Wilderness Lodge on a remote island off the Alaskan coast. Now, maybe I'm just too old (41) to really 'get' her, but she comes off as very naive and ridiculous. I kept telling myself that most girls her age are still trying to find themselves, so I tried to cut her some slack.
Maureen and Stu are in a marriage that is clearly over, but they still feel the need to put on a show for their dwindling guests. Erin, Polly, and Chef are the other employees, and they're all pretty one-dimensional.
I get Erin's job in the story. She's the hot young 'temptress' that lures Stu away from his wife and nothing more. The other two, though, are less defined. Polly's character diminishes a little more and a little more as the story goes on until finally, she's reduced to a near-catatonic child by the very end. Other than bringing Erin to the island with her, she serves no purpose. You could completely erase her from the story, and nothing would change.
The ending with Chef felt abrupt and out of place. You get through this entire story where nothing really happens until finally, in the last chapter, there's a bit of drama with a background character who was only just introduced a few pages before the book ended. It was a case of 'too-little-too-late' for me. I didn't feel any shock or concern because the characters involved were so minor, and the act was random and unintentional.
I think this would have made a better short story. As it is, nothing much happens. It's just a snapshot into the lives of 6 employees over the course of one Alaskan summer told by a teenager who isn't as philosophical as she thinks she is.
The writing isn't terrible. It has a vagueness that I don't particularly care for, but others may enjoy. I think my main problem here is, based on the description, I was expecting something similar to Christopher Moore or Carl Hiaasen, and that is NOT what I got, so I may be a tad bitter.
Overall though, while this wasn't my jam, I don't discourage anyone from reading it. I don't think the description does it much justice. If you like character studies or the slow, quiet deterioration of things, then you'll dig this. If you're looking for suspense and sensual drama, then you have come to the wrong place because you will not find it here.
aancell18's review
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
anna_pie's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
thebookhousegirl's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
commiebeatle's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
I don’t know if this one was just not that well edited but every paragraph just vanished from memory as soon as I read it. It’s not particularly bad, per se, the words just didn’t stick. I agree with other reviews that the scenes are way to short, usually lasting half a page, which doesn’t fit with this kind of writing style unlike, say, Almond.
All the characters are quite flat, and while the main characters obsession with sleaze and a guy she met once was what made me immediately buy the book I think it’s handled in a way where we never get to know her at all since that is all she ever thinks about.
I find it deeply disturbing that a storyline where a (probably) middle aged man has an affair with his freshly 18 teenage employee is basically a background plot that the narrator and seemingly the author not only doesn’t condemn but rather supports (there’s numerous mentions of how Erin is glowing with love and Stu seems to be truly happy for the first time) even when he has previously molested another teenage employee (then 17). It brings to mind something Polly says when Maureen tells the girls they can’t have a glass of wine because of the legal drinking age in the US: who’s gonna find out? Stu can molest as many teenage girls as he wants – they’re on an isolated island outside of a small Alaskan town, there are no authorities or people to protect these girls. But somehow that is not the story that deserves to be told here, according to Rukeyser. That story is Mira ruminating on whether streetlights can be considered sleaze while she violently masturbates and eats cookie dough for ~300 pages.
Truly just a disjointed novel. Scenes seem to come out of nowhere and nothing really means anything or leads anywhere. The ending is totally random and not based on anything. What was it all about? Who knows? Who cares? It barely seems like Rukeyser does.
All the characters are quite flat, and while the main characters obsession with sleaze and a guy she met once was what made me immediately buy the book I think it’s handled in a way where we never get to know her at all since that is all she ever thinks about.
I find it deeply disturbing that a storyline where a (probably) middle aged man has an affair with his freshly 18 teenage employee is basically a background plot that the narrator and seemingly the author not only doesn’t condemn but rather supports (there’s numerous mentions of how Erin is glowing with love and Stu seems to be truly happy for the first time) even when he has previously molested another teenage employee (then 17). It brings to mind something Polly says when Maureen tells the girls they can’t have a glass of wine because of the legal drinking age in the US: who’s gonna find out? Stu can molest as many teenage girls as he wants – they’re on an isolated island outside of a small Alaskan town, there are no authorities or people to protect these girls. But somehow that is not the story that deserves to be told here, according to Rukeyser. That story is Mira ruminating on whether streetlights can be considered sleaze while she violently masturbates and eats cookie dough for ~300 pages.
Truly just a disjointed novel. Scenes seem to come out of nowhere and nothing really means anything or leads anywhere. The ending is totally random and not based on anything. What was it all about? Who knows? Who cares? It barely seems like Rukeyser does.
oxidized_copper's review against another edition
dark
funny
fast-paced
4.0
perfectly captures teenage obsession. masterful.
aralawrence's review
dark
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75