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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
So many feelings about this book. On one hand, I thought to give it two stars because I basically figured out the key trigger points of the plot on page 35. I dog-eared the page so that I would remember when I got to the end of the book that it was page 35 when I figured it all out. I was pretty spot-on with most of my guesses based on all the foreshadowing. There's a lot of foreshadowing...
But by the end of the book, I was completely caught up in the story and invested in the lives of the characters. I yelled, "That bastard!' at one point.
I cried, actual tears, which hasn't happened with a book for so long.
I cried, "no God, please!" thinking of my own children, and it moved me deeply.
Honestly, I've realized over my reading life that the way I responded to a book has a lot to do with my place and time in life, and the life experience I've had, all rolled up in my judgment of each book I pick up.
This book hit close to home. Some of the things that occurred, which I won't spoil here, actually happened to me when I was a kid. Some of the descriptions of Juniper's actions, all across the board, felt like they could have been taken from my middle school journal. It felt a little too much like reading my own life story in parts, and took me to a dark place emotionally in the remembrance of those things.
There were parts where I felt like the editor could have done away with some extra words, some sentence structure that felt uncomfortable to read, not smooth or flowing, but I was able to overcome the hindrance of that. The perspective of the narrator, being an unnamed nosy neighbor, I thought was very clever. It kept the story moving quickly and told only the parts we needed to know as they were revealed from the perspective of the neighbors.
I'm eager to shake the dark and icky feeling and move on to something else, but this book does get five stars for evoking strong feeling in me.
But by the end of the book, I was completely caught up in the story and invested in the lives of the characters. I yelled, "That bastard!' at one point.
I cried, actual tears, which hasn't happened with a book for so long.
I cried, "no God, please!" thinking of my own children, and it moved me deeply.
Honestly, I've realized over my reading life that the way I responded to a book has a lot to do with my place and time in life, and the life experience I've had, all rolled up in my judgment of each book I pick up.
This book hit close to home. Some of the things that occurred, which I won't spoil here, actually happened to me when I was a kid. Some of the descriptions of Juniper's actions, all across the board, felt like they could have been taken from my middle school journal. It felt a little too much like reading my own life story in parts, and took me to a dark place emotionally in the remembrance of those things.
There were parts where I felt like the editor could have done away with some extra words, some sentence structure that felt uncomfortable to read, not smooth or flowing, but I was able to overcome the hindrance of that. The perspective of the narrator, being an unnamed nosy neighbor, I thought was very clever. It kept the story moving quickly and told only the parts we needed to know as they were revealed from the perspective of the neighbors.
I'm eager to shake the dark and icky feeling and move on to something else, but this book does get five stars for evoking strong feeling in me.
This was a slow build for me. I became invested in the book within the last 100 pages. The relationship with Brad and the stepdaughter Juniper made me so uncomfortable that I wanted to race through to the next part.
I think the ending was great- in the way that it captured my attention and had so much meaning.
This was definitely more than a neighborly quarrel.
I think the ending was great- in the way that it captured my attention and had so much meaning.
This was definitely more than a neighborly quarrel.
I'm unsure how I feel about this book. There was a part that I thought was well done, but so many parts made me just feel icky. I'll update this review after I've had a chance to think about it.
I can't even rate this book because it provokes so many feelings in me. WHAT DID I JUST READ? And why aren't people better?
I'm unsure how I feel about this book. There was a part that I thought was well done, but so many parts made me just feel icky. I'll update this review after I've had a chance to think about it.
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is a riveting story about race, class, gender, and young love, but the writing and how the story is crafted seemed awkward to me.
“We sow the seeds — we hope — of prevention of future sorrows,” they say. “Is this a cautionary tale? We think it is — but we wish it weren’t.”
[b:A Good Neighborhood|44084930|A Good Neighborhood|Therese Anne Fowler|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1555810442l/44084930._SY75_.jpg|68554753] is a story about a tree, teen love, and really stupid adults. Valerie is a passionate ecologist who becomes enraged when her neighbor's out of code building practices begins to kill her prized oak tree. In an effort to stand up for environmental protection and her principles, she files suit against her neighbor, Brad Whitman - a local HVAC business mogul. Now, imagine how life would unfold if you sued your neighbor without speaking to them first. As you can guess, things escalated quickly. And caught in the middle were the teenagers of the two families, dating in secret. Valerie was black; Brad Whitman, white. The setting is North Carolina.
You don't often see acknowledgments at the beginning of the book - almost as a forward. But really, it was [a:Therese Anne Fowler|6521646|Therese Anne Fowler|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1552058369p2/6521646.jpg]'s plea to not be publically admonished on the alter of white privilege. Fowler writes, “I approached the project with respect, aiming for accurate representations, mindful of the ways white authors have gotten it wrong.” Well, unfortunately, that concern bled onto the page. Rather than digging in with fearless abandon to show multifaceted sides of humanity (good and bad), she created a cast of one-dimensional paradigms.
Fowler also said that she wanted to write this story as “a kind of activism in our troubled and troubling times.” And that’s sort of how the book felt - a cautionary tale for white people. But it never really came together. I just needed more. One of the main sources of detachment was the bizarre narration format. Who’s point of view was this? We never really found out. And I just wished Fowler had the guts to write in first person. I wanted to empathize with these characters but was left feeling “schooled” instead of invested. And I know Fowler's work. Frankly, she’s far better than this.
Look, I know this is a precarious subject for a white author to willingly choose. And I do believe Fowler had the best of intentions. But writing this story seemed to shackle her. Fowler felt the need to turn the two black characters into absolute saints while eradicating any stereotypical "blackness." No one is without flaw or fault- that’s humanity. And what teenage boy - black, white, or biracial - doesn't want to have sex? Just- no. The best way to respect one another is to accept who they are, flaws and all. And if you’re going to dig into this material, don’t hold back. Write from your soul and without fear. That’s the story I wanted.
I really tried to like this novel. But I could feel the hesitation in the writing. Like creating a watercolor, you have to let it flow and not overwork the composition. This felt PC edited to hell, which strangely came off as patronizing. And that is truly a shame, especially since writing from a controversial perspective can be achieved. [a:Khaled Hosseini|569|Khaled Hosseini|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1359753468p2/569.jpg] nailed the female perspective with disturbing accuracy in [b:A Thousand Splendid Suns|128029|A Thousand Splendid Suns|Khaled Hosseini|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1345958969l/128029._SY75_.jpg|3271379]. It can be done. But only if you’re fearless. I'm hoping next time to see a similar abandon in Fowler's writing.
