Take a photo of a barcode or cover
saruh_12 's review for:
Spooky Little Girl
by Laurie Notaro
I read several of Notaro's humorous memoir/essay books in college. I had no idea she was writing fiction until this book popped up in a random email. Having hugely enjoyed her previous writing, I decided to give it a try.
This book is nothing like those previous books.
I'm not actually sure if it was meant to be a funny book, but I kept waiting, in vain, for something to be hilarious. In fact, by the end of the book, I just felt really depressed for almost everyone.
Pros for reading this book:
1. The concept was interesting, and it's a quick enough read.
2. There's some pretty decent and subtle character development in Lucy throughout the book, if you can put up with how annoying and self-absorbed she is at the beginning.
3. You like to feel sad and depressed about other people's bad choices/deaths. Or, you don't usually spend a lot of time thinking about the implications of the events of the book for the characters' lives once the story has ended.
Cons for reading this book:
1. The writing didn't work for me. I stopped a couple times and tried to analyze what exactly was so off-putting about it, but I don't have an answer.
2. Most of the cast of minor characters are really exaggerated, which is probably meant to make them funnier. I did not find them any funnier for this.
3. Lots of things just don't make sense. I believe I am pretty good at suspending belief for the sake of a story, but I was really struggling with some inconsistencies (If they go through walls, why can they stand on the floor? Why can she sleep on the couch? Why can she touch the dog? And so many more!) throughout the book.
4. Seriously, so depressing.
This book is nothing like those previous books.
I'm not actually sure if it was meant to be a funny book, but I kept waiting, in vain, for something to be hilarious. In fact, by the end of the book, I just felt really depressed for almost everyone.
Pros for reading this book:
1. The concept was interesting, and it's a quick enough read.
2. There's some pretty decent and subtle character development in Lucy throughout the book, if you can put up with how annoying and self-absorbed she is at the beginning.
3. You like to feel sad and depressed about other people's bad choices/deaths. Or, you don't usually spend a lot of time thinking about the implications of the events of the book for the characters' lives once the story has ended.
Cons for reading this book:
1. The writing didn't work for me. I stopped a couple times and tried to analyze what exactly was so off-putting about it, but I don't have an answer.
2. Most of the cast of minor characters are really exaggerated, which is probably meant to make them funnier. I did not find them any funnier for this.
3. Lots of things just don't make sense. I believe I am pretty good at suspending belief for the sake of a story, but I was really struggling with some inconsistencies (If they go through walls, why can they stand on the floor? Why can she sleep on the couch? Why can she touch the dog? And so many more!) throughout the book.
4. Seriously, so depressing.