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A review by ralbert89
Saving Max by Antoinette van Heugten
3.0
I picked up this book on a whim after reading the plot summary here on GoodReads. As a fan of Jodi Picoult's books, I was expecting something along the lines of her novel "House Rules", which is one of my favourite books. The plot centres on a mother whose son with Asperger's Syndrome is accused of murdering another patient in a psychiatric facility. The mother, Danielle, goes to great lengths to prove that her son is innocent.
Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed with Saving Max. Although the story itself is interesting, I found the writing left a lot to be desired. The tense that the book is written in comes across as awkward (ie. "Danielle sits across from him" as opposed to the more typical "Danielle sat across from him"). Although this seems like a very minor inconvenience, I found it off-putting at first and it took about half of the book to adapt to it.
I was also unlucky to have accidentally seem a significant spoiler online when I was partway through the book, which ruined some of plot for me. Even knowing what was going to happen, I was still interested to see how things played out. The second half of the book was much more engaging to me, especially once the legal aspects were introduced.
However, this also brings me to one of my biggest issues with the story as a whole. I found that I was often frustrated by Danielle's actions, and especially by the limited character development. To me, none of the characters seemed fully formed and instead seemed quite two-dimensional. What often makes stories like this succeed is the depth of the characters, and a "show, don't tell" approach. Unfortunately, for me the book fell quite flat in this area. Character development that could have occurred by allowing characters to interact with one another instead took the form of direct statements informing the reader of how the person is.
I found much of the plot was driven by coincidences or otherwise conveneint plot devices. This was especially frustrating when it came to the legal aspects of the case, as it seemed very unrealistic and inaccurate. What could have been an excellent thriller/mystery of how to accumulate evidence turned into a mediocre case of a woman trying to take justice into her own hands.
As a final note, as someone who works with individuals with ASD, I was not impressed with the characterization of autism in this book. Aside from conveniently explaining his computer skills, there did not seem to be any reason for Max to be identified as having Asperger's Syndrome. It did nothing for the plot, and was mentioned only in passing at the beginning and quickly abandoned.
Overall, it was an interesting story that suffered due to the style of writing. As the story progresses, it becomes more and more engaging (and less frustrating) however it did not quite live up to my expectations.
Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed with Saving Max. Although the story itself is interesting, I found the writing left a lot to be desired. The tense that the book is written in comes across as awkward (ie. "Danielle sits across from him" as opposed to the more typical "Danielle sat across from him"). Although this seems like a very minor inconvenience, I found it off-putting at first and it took about half of the book to adapt to it.
I was also unlucky to have accidentally seem a significant spoiler online when I was partway through the book, which ruined some of plot for me. Even knowing what was going to happen, I was still interested to see how things played out. The second half of the book was much more engaging to me, especially once the legal aspects were introduced.
However, this also brings me to one of my biggest issues with the story as a whole. I found that I was often frustrated by Danielle's actions, and especially by the limited character development. To me, none of the characters seemed fully formed and instead seemed quite two-dimensional. What often makes stories like this succeed is the depth of the characters, and a "show, don't tell" approach. Unfortunately, for me the book fell quite flat in this area. Character development that could have occurred by allowing characters to interact with one another instead took the form of direct statements informing the reader of how the person is.
I found much of the plot was driven by coincidences or otherwise conveneint plot devices. This was especially frustrating when it came to the legal aspects of the case, as it seemed very unrealistic and inaccurate. What could have been an excellent thriller/mystery of how to accumulate evidence turned into a mediocre case of a woman trying to take justice into her own hands.
As a final note, as someone who works with individuals with ASD, I was not impressed with the characterization of autism in this book. Aside from conveniently explaining his computer skills, there did not seem to be any reason for Max to be identified as having Asperger's Syndrome. It did nothing for the plot, and was mentioned only in passing at the beginning and quickly abandoned.
Overall, it was an interesting story that suffered due to the style of writing. As the story progresses, it becomes more and more engaging (and less frustrating) however it did not quite live up to my expectations.