A review by laurenaf
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This gave me heavy boots. This book is about loss, pain, and the grief of losing someone you love unexpectedly. Set from the perspective of an 8 year old makes it that much sadder, because at that age you still don’t fully understand death or typically have to experience it, and to read that is just gut wrenching. I enjoyed all the characters because they all seemed pretty well developed. I think the use of multiple points of view is interesting, but at times the grandpas perspective vs. the grandmas was confusing and/or slow, I much preferred Oscars adventures. That being said I do understand that the multiple stories was to show the multiple ways of loss and how people handle it differently which was interesting, it just could have been done a little better. There were also some details through which were strange/uncomfortable. I feel like being written in 2005 some of the language was acceptable then but has since been deemed disrespectful from society (i.e. stereotypical thoughts and phrases regarding different races and people w disabilities). I also found the relationship between Oscar and Abby Black a little uncomfortable- specifically the parts where the 40 year old woman wanted to kiss the 9 year old?? That just felt strange and unnecessary.  Overall I enjoyed the main story but the other parts distracted me from loving this book entirely. 
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