linneakarchibald 's review for:

House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III

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Ugh. I don't even have words for how much I did not like this book. Maybe I'm missing something? People seem to love it and it was also a National Book Award finalist, so that says something. My main complaint is that every character was deeply dislikeable. Setting aside the somewhat problematic portrayal of the Behrani family who've immigrated from Iran, every character arc revolved around people making bad choices and being cruel to each other. Just not my vibe.

The words were well-written, but the shift between first and third person felt a bit jarring and I don't think I'll be reading more of Dubus III's work to find out if I like any other books better than this.