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A review by cindywindy_blogs
Unless by Carol Shields
1.0
I was so bored reading this book. It started out boring in the first chapter when she listed all of her works and explained her translations. I'm not one of those type of readers where a book has to immediately grip you in the beginning otherwise you quit. So I kept on reading hoping it would get better... but it didn't.
The book focuses on how Reta deals with her daugher, Norah's, strange decision to live in a shelter and to beg on the streets. Reta starts to believe the reason why Norah became this way is because of some feminist plight. So Reta rants about feminism for a good boring portion of this book and starts to write letters to random people about her daughter and feminism. The story about her daughter Norah was mildy interesting but it always felt like it was the background not the main focus. I did like how in the end, the mystery of why Norah took to begging on the streets in the name of Goodness was revealed, which tied back into an earlier small part in the book.
I felt like I did not get to know any of the characters. Reta's husband, Tom, and their daughters, Natalie & Christine, have no personalities. Their characters are completely flat. The only two people we see any kind of personality are Reta, who is neurotic, and Danielle Westerman, who is unlikeable.
The book focuses on how Reta deals with her daugher, Norah's, strange decision to live in a shelter and to beg on the streets. Reta starts to believe the reason why Norah became this way is because of some feminist plight. So Reta rants about feminism for a good boring portion of this book and starts to write letters to random people about her daughter and feminism. The story about her daughter Norah was mildy interesting but it always felt like it was the background not the main focus. I did like how in the end, the mystery of why Norah took to begging on the streets in the name of Goodness was revealed, which tied back into an earlier small part in the book.
I felt like I did not get to know any of the characters. Reta's husband, Tom, and their daughters, Natalie & Christine, have no personalities. Their characters are completely flat. The only two people we see any kind of personality are Reta, who is neurotic, and Danielle Westerman, who is unlikeable.