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A review by mairispaceship
Inconvenient Daughter by Lauren J. Sharkey
3.0
A short little book that I picked up since it was available on my Everand subscription, and I managed to finish the whole thing in one 'sitting' (well, walking really!)
I'm not totally sure what to make of it. On the one hand, the writing was great! I found the characters compelling, and couldn't put the book down. It dealt with some really difficult topics, such as abuse and transracial adoption, but did so in a really raw and creative way. But on the other hand, I didn't quite click with the story. It started out strong, but ended quite abruptly and the resolution felt rushed. There were many unfinished character threads, and I couldn't understand why the main character came round to her way of thinking in those final few minutes.
At least, those were all the things I was thinking until I googled the book and found out it's essentially auto-biographical. Okay, okay, it says "based on", but since all the schools and the dates match up, and the author is very open about their past, I think it's closer to being a biography than fiction. And, in real life, 'character' threads don't always have time to be resolved, real life isn't a neat little story that can be tied up in a bow with a beginning, middle, and end.
In that way, the book made more sense. I don't know if I would have picked it up had I known it was a biography. But equally marketing it as a work of pure fiction doesn't quite set the reader up right either.
3/5 stars out of respect to the author because I really loved her style of writing and would eagerly read her next book. But only 3/5 because I'm not sure I can say I enjoyed this one as much as I could have done.
I'm not totally sure what to make of it. On the one hand, the writing was great! I found the characters compelling, and couldn't put the book down. It dealt with some really difficult topics, such as abuse and transracial adoption, but did so in a really raw and creative way. But on the other hand, I didn't quite click with the story. It started out strong, but ended quite abruptly and the resolution felt rushed. There were many unfinished character threads, and I couldn't understand why the main character came round to her way of thinking in those final few minutes.
At least, those were all the things I was thinking until I googled the book and found out it's essentially auto-biographical. Okay, okay, it says "based on", but since all the schools and the dates match up, and the author is very open about their past, I think it's closer to being a biography than fiction. And, in real life, 'character' threads don't always have time to be resolved, real life isn't a neat little story that can be tied up in a bow with a beginning, middle, and end.
In that way, the book made more sense. I don't know if I would have picked it up had I known it was a biography. But equally marketing it as a work of pure fiction doesn't quite set the reader up right either.
3/5 stars out of respect to the author because I really loved her style of writing and would eagerly read her next book. But only 3/5 because I'm not sure I can say I enjoyed this one as much as I could have done.