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francesirene 's review for:
All the Colors of the Dark
by Chris Whitaker
I actually have a lot of thoughts on this book.
I loved the writing style of this book and thought it was very well done. From the very beginning I thought it towed the line between realistic and fantastical. In that way it reminded me of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (this is a random and specific reference but maybe one person will have also read this book). For how long the book was, I thought the pacing was actually pretty quick because of the short chapters and different storylines. There were so many discoveries that the book had my attention from the very beginning. There was not much context given and as the reader I had to work to understand what was going on and connect the dots. I didn't mind this but could see how it would be a little frustrating to some.
I was immediately enthralled by Patch and Saint and their relationship. The author had a real skill for getting to the heart of a character in a short time. I felt that the supporting characters were also well developed. On this note though, the author committed one of my writing pet peeves - unrealistic children characters. The culprit? Charlotte - with a potty mouth and dialogue of a 15 year old at age 6. Nice try.
After so much happened in the first 100 pages of the book (kidnapping, rescue, etc.) I was a little bit confused where the rest of the book would go. However, I was delighted to find that we would get to watch the aftermath of these events played out in full and have many more twists and turns along the way. The pursuit of Grace and her character added to the fantastical element of the story. I did cry a lot when Saint got married and Patch came to her wedding. I had to give this book 4 instead of 5 stars because the guy started to lose me at the end. The secret abortions, Dr. Tooms and Nix, Grace being found, Saint giving her baby up for adoption, Richie Montrose, Sammy and Mrs. Meyers, Patch constantly evading law enforcement. I'm probably missing some believe it or not. Yes, the loose ends were tied up and in a way I was eating it up, but it was just a little tooooooo much going on. Why did I kind of want Grace to be a figment of Patch's imagination? Her character was built up so much that it makes sense why their reunion fell a little flat to me. Also, why did Patch search for her like a deranged person for his entire life and then when he found her he was then fine to be apart from her living his nomadic sailboat life?? You would have thought he wouldn't want to let her go. It did break my heart that he never could quite be with Saint.
This was one of the better books I have read in a long time and I'm so happy to have read it. Woohoo!
I loved the writing style of this book and thought it was very well done. From the very beginning I thought it towed the line between realistic and fantastical. In that way it reminded me of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (this is a random and specific reference but maybe one person will have also read this book). For how long the book was, I thought the pacing was actually pretty quick because of the short chapters and different storylines. There were so many discoveries that the book had my attention from the very beginning. There was not much context given and as the reader I had to work to understand what was going on and connect the dots. I didn't mind this but could see how it would be a little frustrating to some.
I was immediately enthralled by Patch and Saint and their relationship. The author had a real skill for getting to the heart of a character in a short time. I felt that the supporting characters were also well developed. On this note though, the author committed one of my writing pet peeves - unrealistic children characters. The culprit? Charlotte - with a potty mouth and dialogue of a 15 year old at age 6. Nice try.
After so much happened in the first 100 pages of the book (kidnapping, rescue, etc.) I was a little bit confused where the rest of the book would go. However, I was delighted to find that we would get to watch the aftermath of these events played out in full and have many more twists and turns along the way. The pursuit of Grace and her character added to the fantastical element of the story. I did cry a lot when Saint got married and Patch came to her wedding. I had to give this book 4 instead of 5 stars because the guy started to lose me at the end. The secret abortions, Dr. Tooms and Nix, Grace being found, Saint giving her baby up for adoption, Richie Montrose, Sammy and Mrs. Meyers, Patch constantly evading law enforcement. I'm probably missing some believe it or not. Yes, the loose ends were tied up and in a way I was eating it up, but it was just a little tooooooo much going on. Why did I kind of want Grace to be a figment of Patch's imagination? Her character was built up so much that it makes sense why their reunion fell a little flat to me. Also, why did Patch search for her like a deranged person for his entire life and then when he found her he was then fine to be apart from her living his nomadic sailboat life?? You would have thought he wouldn't want to let her go. It did break my heart that he never could quite be with Saint.
This was one of the better books I have read in a long time and I'm so happy to have read it. Woohoo!