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A review by jenbsbooks
The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali
3.25
I liked this ... didn't love it, as so many others seemed to. I had heard rave reviews about this, and found a hardcopy at the thrift store (that pushes a book up my TBR). While the story kept my interest, I'm not sure how much it will stick in my memory. I went with the audio, which isn't as good for stopping and taking notes, making highlights, but I never really felt that urge (I had the Kindle copy too).
3rd person/Past tense ... broken up into five parts, with 30 chronological chapters running through. The chapters had headings - a phrase and a date. I wish this info was also included in the Table of Contents. To me, it's always interesting to look back over the heads, see what memories the headers can bring up ... both Kindle and Audio just had the basic numbered chapters. The physical book lacks a TOC altogether (I can't comprehend why physical books today leave them out).
1. The Center/2013
2. The Boy Who Would Change the World/1953
3. Love How it Tangles/1953
4. Chained/1953
5. Gafe Ghanadi/1953
6. Bruised Sky/1953
I won't retype all the headers here, just enough to show the idea. Part 1, through Ch13 sticks to 1953. Part 2/Chapter 14 does an unexpected jump ... The Melon Seller's Daughter/1916 ... this shift in POV and setting/time really confused me. It finally connected later on, but I was a little lost here. Chapter 14-15 return to Roya in 1953. Part 3/Chapter 17 shifts to 1956/California. The next chapters move on to the next few years. Part 4/Chapter 21 threw me again, heading was Births/1958 and in print, it was in italics ... who is the POV? Again, I was a little lost, took me a minute to figure out this was Bahman. Was this a letter, a journal entry? Stream-of-consciousness? Part 5/Chapter 23 was another "what is going on" for me ... 2013, Claire. Who is Claire? Oh yes, from the first chapter, she's an administrator at the nursing home, took me a few minutes to make that connection ...
I didn't care for these abrupt and confusing chapters added in within the main story. Yes, it all came together in the end, but it irritated me when it was happening. I didn't care for the "spoiler" at the end of chapter 20 "little did she know that her future held a bigger loss: a loss that would make the summer of 1953 look like child's play" ... I guess things moved pretty quickly in Chapter22, but I knew as soon as a baby was mentioned, that it would end in a loss ...
I never fully connected to the characters. Bahman's mother was just terrible! I liked Roya, Bahman, Walter, but still felt a little a part from all the characters. I wasn't sure how I felt about how everything tied up.
This was clean: No proFanity, no sex. Other words I note: cacophony, ablutions
3rd person/Past tense ... broken up into five parts, with 30 chronological chapters running through. The chapters had headings - a phrase and a date. I wish this info was also included in the Table of Contents. To me, it's always interesting to look back over the heads, see what memories the headers can bring up ... both Kindle and Audio just had the basic numbered chapters. The physical book lacks a TOC altogether (I can't comprehend why physical books today leave them out).
1. The Center/2013
2. The Boy Who Would Change the World/1953
3. Love How it Tangles/1953
4. Chained/1953
5. Gafe Ghanadi/1953
6. Bruised Sky/1953
I won't retype all the headers here, just enough to show the idea. Part 1, through Ch13 sticks to 1953. Part 2/Chapter 14 does an unexpected jump ... The Melon Seller's Daughter/1916 ... this shift in POV and setting/time really confused me. It finally connected later on, but I was a little lost here. Chapter 14-15 return to Roya in 1953. Part 3/Chapter 17 shifts to 1956/California. The next chapters move on to the next few years. Part 4/Chapter 21 threw me again, heading was Births/1958 and in print, it was in italics ... who is the POV? Again, I was a little lost, took me a minute to figure out this was Bahman. Was this a letter, a journal entry? Stream-of-consciousness? Part 5/Chapter 23 was another "what is going on" for me ... 2013, Claire. Who is Claire? Oh yes, from the first chapter, she's an administrator at the nursing home, took me a few minutes to make that connection ...
I didn't care for these abrupt and confusing chapters added in within the main story. Yes, it all came together in the end, but it irritated me when it was happening. I didn't care for the "spoiler" at the end of chapter 20 "little did she know that her future held a bigger loss: a loss that would make the summer of 1953 look like child's play" ... I guess things moved pretty quickly in Chapter22, but I knew as soon as a baby was mentioned, that it would end in a loss ...
I never fully connected to the characters. Bahman's mother was just terrible! I liked Roya, Bahman, Walter, but still felt a little a part from all the characters. I wasn't sure how I felt about how everything tied up.
This was clean: No proFanity, no sex. Other words I note: cacophony, ablutions