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I did not enjoy this book as a whole. There were a few vignettes or characters that were really interesting but the overall plot of the intersection of lives on Santa Claus Lane was a miss for me. I appreciate the dark humor but the overall tone was too depressing. I didn't like any of the characters and found their selfishness unattractive. The one plus is that I really like the narrator. I thought her voice was perfect for this story.
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Rape
dark
funny
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Sandi Tan's LURKERS revolves around the residents of Santa Claus Lane, located in a suburb of Los Angeles. Rosemary and Mira(cle) Park live with their parents who are immigrants from Korea- their father a pastor, their mother stays at home and thinks fondly of Korea, wishing to return. Mary-Sue Ireland lives across the street. She adopts a child from Vietnam who she names Kate and raises her as a single mom. An older novelist lives in the biggest house in the neighborhood and thinks he is seeing ghosts. LURKERS alternates narrators, jumping around with plot lines that do not always resolve. Subjectively, I struggled with this one. The majority of the characters are pretty repellant to me. And there are multiple instances of adults either fantasizing/obsessing or explictly preying on underage girls. The title of LURKERS resonates in that there are multiple instances of characters spying on others and "lurking" outside their houses. There were flashes of character development that intrigued me, but threads were dropped and not picked up. Just left a bit of an unpleasant taste in my mouth. Perhaps not the right audience.
But thank you still to NetGalley and Soho Press for the advance reader copy in exchange for honest review.
But thank you still to NetGalley and Soho Press for the advance reader copy in exchange for honest review.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Lurkers is a novel about neighbours whose lives intersect in a suburb of LA. Despite setting this book in multicultural southern California, the author writes about race in a very hamfisted way. Even background characters need to be identified as the "glossy Latina" or the "petite Latina". The characters who don't speak English as a first language are given cartoonish dialects. While there are some interesting plot lines here, they would be much better served in the hands of a more sensitive writer. I had a hard time caring about even the more sympathetic characters and they are easily drowned out by the two-dimensional unlikeable ones. It's hard to discern the tone of this book. None of the serious plot events seem to have any stakes to them but there isn't enough (successful) levity to make it comedic either. It's not a good book.