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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
My grandma was right; this is a great book. I like how Kathy's narrative voice gets more chaotic as control of her life spins away from her. Sad, but really well done.
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I thought I was going to like this book but by the end I was so bored and didn't like any of the characters that I skimmed the last 25-30 pages. Way too much monotonous detail about the characters, no likability at all.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Lies and the things people do to maintain those lies which leads to serious consequences is at the heart of House of Sand and Fog. This book centers around three individuals who are fighting for the same house. Kathy Nicolo, a recovering addict who lost her house due to a bureaucratic error but cannot tell her love ones she lost her home; Colonial Behrani, a former high ranking officer in the Iranian army reduced to day laboring and clerking at a deli in order to maintain the lifestyle he was used to in Iran who buys Kathy's house at an auction; and Deputy Lester Burdon the officer who removed Kathy from her home but his general unhappiness with his own life leads to an affair with Kathy. This conflict over this house lead to some desperate by all the parties to obtain or maintain the property in question. Let what's more interesting is what each individual sacrificed in order to maintain their own self-image and how each reacts when the facade starts to fall. The first part of the novel gives you one perspective but the second part takes a darker turn that forces the reader to reassess what was read up to that point. Recommended for those who are looking for a literary character study with elements of a thriller.
Tragic and well written but for some reason I wasn’t emotionally connected to any of the characters. Dubus did a good job portraying the moral ambiguity of the whole situation though, I could never quite decide who’s side I was on.
I loved this. Could not work out what was going to happen or how it was going to work out. I enjoyed the different voices and the shifts between perspectives, and also that none of the characters were particularly likeable.