kathycz 's review for:

Good on Paper by Rachel Cantor

4.0

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I put off reading Good on Paper for a long time after I bought it because the cover and the title were so suggestive of snappy chick lit. When I finally dug in, what I found instead was a super-smart literary "mystery" of sorts with a cast of quirky, interesting characters and a sense of humor. I wish I had realized there was an actual copy of Dante's Vita Nuova on my daughter's bookshelf, because all the better to have it beside you while you read. Cantor manages to parallel the movement of Dante's trials and tribulations with the novel's own while at the same time spinning out a charming story with a surprising twist. Look, it's not perfect. Some of Shira's back story and motivations seem superfluous (T., Jonah) while we don't know enough about other parts (because: twist) to understand her behavior at times. But smart literary mysteries are pretty niche and hard to come by. A.S. Byatt still wears the crown, but Good on Paper is smart, fun and well worth a read!