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larawalden 's review for:
Little Bee
by Chris Cleave
While there is much that I really like about Little Bee, there are a couple if things that irked me, and I'm having a hard time getting past them.
The first, and probably biggest thing that bothers me is the back cover. The publisher tells us that something REALLY extraordinary happens, but won't say what. Then we are asked not to tell anyone else about it, so as not to spoil it. I don't know which bothers me more - "I know something you don't know" or "Shh - it's our little secret."
The chapters that Little Bee narrate are fantastic - her voice is crystal clear, and Cleave knows exactly who she is and what makes her to tick. On the other hand (ironic that "The Other Hand" is the book's original title, used throughout the rest of the world), the chapters narrated by Sarah are less compelling. I realize that she is grieving, but I didn't sense her inner Mama Bear, nor did I understand her attraction to Lawrence. Male English authors, it seems, have difficulty crafting realistic female English characters. Who would'a thunk...
On top of all that, I kept wondering if The Surprise wasn't really the surprise about which the publisher teased: The last third of the novel introduced a twist that led me to think that something else - something Even More Surprising - was going to happen. Something did, but how it unfolded didn't quite ring true for me. Instead it felt like a convenient plot point to move the story forward to force an ending that, while suspenseful and dramatic (and, to my eternal frustration, open-ended), may not have been necessary.
I really, really enjoyed Little Bee as a narrator. I would like to read about what happens After.
A good book worth reading, but to quote Public Enemy, don't believe the hype.
The first, and probably biggest thing that bothers me is the back cover. The publisher tells us that something REALLY extraordinary happens, but won't say what. Then we are asked not to tell anyone else about it, so as not to spoil it. I don't know which bothers me more - "I know something you don't know" or "Shh - it's our little secret."
The chapters that Little Bee narrate are fantastic - her voice is crystal clear, and Cleave knows exactly who she is and what makes her to tick. On the other hand (ironic that "The Other Hand" is the book's original title, used throughout the rest of the world), the chapters narrated by Sarah are less compelling. I realize that she is grieving, but I didn't sense her inner Mama Bear, nor did I understand her attraction to Lawrence. Male English authors, it seems, have difficulty crafting realistic female English characters. Who would'a thunk...
On top of all that, I kept wondering if The Surprise wasn't really the surprise about which the publisher teased: The last third of the novel introduced a twist that led me to think that something else - something Even More Surprising - was going to happen. Something did, but how it unfolded didn't quite ring true for me. Instead it felt like a convenient plot point to move the story forward to force an ending that, while suspenseful and dramatic (and, to my eternal frustration, open-ended), may not have been necessary.
I really, really enjoyed Little Bee as a narrator. I would like to read about what happens After.
A good book worth reading, but to quote Public Enemy, don't believe the hype.