Take a photo of a barcode or cover
eleni_flores 's review for:
A Good Neighborhood
by Therese Anne Fowler
I am having such a hard time formulating a review for this one. I want to say I hated it, but what I actually hated was the story (specifically the ending), and the fact that I feel so strongly about it tells me that the author definitely did something right.
However, what I can say with certainty is that the author also taunts us with The Big Event throughout the whole book, and we don't actually find out what it is until the last 15-20%. If there's one writing element I absolutely hate in any book, it's being outright teased with what's to come. Not foreshadowing—I'm talking actual taunting. I almost DNF'd so many time, because it was so slow, not much was happening, and almost every chapter either began or ended with a line that was basically, "You'll understand this more once you know what The Big Event is—but you have to wait!" It was just so frustrating. I knew that the ending was explosive and/or controversial based on reviews, so the only reason I kept going was that I had to know why people felt so strongly about it.
Stylistically, I would say A Good Neighborhood was a big no for me. But the fact that I felt so many emotions (albeit, all of them negative), goes to show that there's definitely something here. I'm just not sure I'd choose to go through it had I known what I was really in for. It's extremely emotionally manipulative.
The last thing I'll say is that the jacket copy says this book asks the question of what does it mean to be a good neighbor, especially when we have different views, and I think that description is completely misleading. That was such a microscopic piece of this story, which is actually 100% about entitlement, and the misrepresentation really bothers me because I was completely unprepared for what it delivered.
However, what I can say with certainty is that the author also taunts us with The Big Event throughout the whole book, and we don't actually find out what it is until the last 15-20%. If there's one writing element I absolutely hate in any book, it's being outright teased with what's to come. Not foreshadowing—I'm talking actual taunting. I almost DNF'd so many time, because it was so slow, not much was happening, and almost every chapter either began or ended with a line that was basically, "You'll understand this more once you know what The Big Event is—but you have to wait!" It was just so frustrating. I knew that the ending was explosive and/or controversial based on reviews, so the only reason I kept going was that I had to know why people felt so strongly about it.
Stylistically, I would say A Good Neighborhood was a big no for me. But the fact that I felt so many emotions (albeit, all of them negative), goes to show that there's definitely something here. I'm just not sure I'd choose to go through it had I known what I was really in for. It's extremely emotionally manipulative.
The last thing I'll say is that the jacket copy says this book asks the question of what does it mean to be a good neighbor, especially when we have different views, and I think that description is completely misleading. That was such a microscopic piece of this story, which is actually 100% about entitlement, and the misrepresentation really bothers me because I was completely unprepared for what it delivered.