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A review by tobyyy
The Bookseller by Cynthia Swanson
3.0
This just seems to be the year (or perhaps the month) for me to pick up books, read them and enjoy them, and then ask myself the question that always seems to come up: "What the fuck did I just read?" (I swear that this never used to happen. Maybe I'm reading weirder books now, or maybe my outlook on life, reading, and everything else has shifted a little...? Not really sure.)
So... I'm going to break The Bookseller down into parts I liked and parts I didn't, and rate them accordingly.
* Originality of the idea behind the story:5/5 stars.
* Writing style: 5/5 stars.
* The way autism was portrayed: 4/5 stars. Mind you, I'm only rating it that high because this book takes place in the 1960s and back then, most mental illnesses (especially ones such as schizophrenia) were blamed on the mother. Take, for example, this quote from The History of Autism, under the 1960s & 1970s section:
(And I did check - autism was indeed referred to as childhood schizophrenia in the 1960s, which was something I was curious about.)
* Balance of action to description: 3.5/5 stars (I'm sorry. I love descriptions, but there was a LOT of describing in this book.) And, following up on that --
* My sense of filler writing to actual important-to-the-story writing: 3/5 stars. Ish. Maybe 2.5/5 stars. There was a lot of filler writing, but as mentioned above, I like descriptions. I like being able to picture the world and the people in the world that I'm reading about. But there really was a lot of filler stuff that had nothing to do with the actual storyline. Who cares what the cabinets are like in Katharyn's house? (Seriously.)
* The way the plot was carried out: 3/5 stars. It felt weak, and I'm not entirely sure how I should feel about what is real and what isn't... and that kind of pisses me off. Because for me it was an intriguing mystery throughout the book but I feel like the ending should've shown the reader which was real and which wasn't. It kind of did, but also, it kind of didn't. And that's infuriating to me.
* Likeability of Kitty/Katharyn: 2.5/5 stars. I never really felt attached to her. There isn't a whole lot of character there to get attached to.
* Kitty's vs. Katharyn's lives: 2/5 stars. There was loss in each life, but Kitty's life was at least tolerable whereas Katharyn's sounded horrible. However, I do think that Katharyn's life can be improved and at least at the end she was consciously trying to improve it.
* Showing us how Kitty/Katharyn got through the days when Kitty/Katharyn were in their opposite lives: 1/5 stars. This really wasn't explained AT ALL. *sob* And I felt like that was something that really, really needing to be explained.
* Knowing how I should feel after finishing the book: 0/5 stars. Seriously. I have NO IDEA. Am I supposed to be happy how it turned out? There's elements of both happy and sad to the ending, but there's also so, so, SO MANY "what ifs" or "why didn'ts" or or or.......
Overall, I would totally read something by Swanson again. I loved her writing style, I loved the descriptions, and I do think that she shows promise, both in originality of her plot and her writing style. The Bookseller was her debut novel and honestly, it kept me interested. I finished it in 2 days, and that's with doing a lot of other stuff in between reading. :)
So... I'm going to break The Bookseller down into parts I liked and parts I didn't, and rate them accordingly.
* Originality of the idea behind the story:5/5 stars.
* Writing style: 5/5 stars.
* The way autism was portrayed: 4/5 stars. Mind you, I'm only rating it that high because this book takes place in the 1960s and back then, most mental illnesses (especially ones such as schizophrenia) were blamed on the mother. Take, for example, this quote from The History of Autism, under the 1960s & 1970s section:
[In the 1960s and 1970s], the notion of poor parenting remained in the forefront for many researchers and physicians during the decades to follow. None is as prevalent as the Refrigerator Mother theory, in which the mother fails to bond with her baby.
(And I did check - autism was indeed referred to as childhood schizophrenia in the 1960s, which was something I was curious about.)
* Balance of action to description: 3.5/5 stars (I'm sorry. I love descriptions, but there was a LOT of describing in this book.) And, following up on that --
* My sense of filler writing to actual important-to-the-story writing: 3/5 stars. Ish. Maybe 2.5/5 stars. There was a lot of filler writing, but as mentioned above, I like descriptions. I like being able to picture the world and the people in the world that I'm reading about. But there really was a lot of filler stuff that had nothing to do with the actual storyline. Who cares what the cabinets are like in Katharyn's house? (Seriously.)
* The way the plot was carried out: 3/5 stars. It felt weak, and I'm not entirely sure how I should feel about what is real and what isn't... and that kind of pisses me off. Because for me it was an intriguing mystery throughout the book but I feel like the ending should've shown the reader which was real and which wasn't. It kind of did, but also, it kind of didn't. And that's infuriating to me.
* Likeability of Kitty/Katharyn: 2.5/5 stars. I never really felt attached to her. There isn't a whole lot of character there to get attached to.
* Kitty's vs. Katharyn's lives: 2/5 stars. There was loss in each life, but Kitty's life was at least tolerable whereas Katharyn's sounded horrible. However, I do think that Katharyn's life can be improved and at least at the end she was consciously trying to improve it.
* Showing us how Kitty/Katharyn got through the days when Kitty/Katharyn were in their opposite lives: 1/5 stars. This really wasn't explained AT ALL. *sob* And I felt like that was something that really, really needing to be explained.
* Knowing how I should feel after finishing the book: 0/5 stars. Seriously. I have NO IDEA. Am I supposed to be happy how it turned out? There's elements of both happy and sad to the ending, but there's also so, so, SO MANY "what ifs" or "why didn'ts" or or or.......
Overall, I would totally read something by Swanson again. I loved her writing style, I loved the descriptions, and I do think that she shows promise, both in originality of her plot and her writing style. The Bookseller was her debut novel and honestly, it kept me interested. I finished it in 2 days, and that's with doing a lot of other stuff in between reading. :)