bgg616 's review for:

A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza

2.0

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I was skeptical of a book imprint from Sarah Jessica Parker (I am “soooo” not a fan). But I saw a couple of good reviews from GR friends and am generally interested in books by women of color. Well, my skepticism of SJP didn’t dissolve by reading this book. Instead I realized I was right – SJP is not a good judge of literary quality.

It was a mistake to listen to this book. I got confused with what was happening and when, and who was who. This writer’s first novel shouldn’t have used a non-linear timeline. The moving back and forth caused me to get lost. I also became confused because I didn’t have a good grasp on some of the characters’ names, and it seemed the same name was used for 2 characters – one who dies, and the child of another character. But the author never says this couple named their son for the person who had died so maybe I was just not hearing well.
The book was too long- almost 400 pages and almost 17 hours on audio. I listened to the second half of the book at 1.5 speed. After the second reference in the story to “the shoes”, I yelled at the audio – not the #&% shoes again. The shoes came up again and again and again. Not only did the timeline move around but events were repeated over and over and over and over. And the accounts barely differed.

The best part of the book was the last section narrated by the father. If the first part had been half the length, and ended with the father’s account, it would have been a much better novel.