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viviennemurr 's review for:

Lila by Marilynne Robinson
2.75
challenging emotional reflective slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Have you ever read a paragraph and thought, ‘woah, this should be like 5 paragraphs. There are way too many sentences in one paragraph.’ Yea, that’s this book. 

There’s rambling. There’s religion. There’s lots of reflective thoughts. Most importantly, it all runs together. A thought of one person then the next sentence is about something completely different. Sometimes a completely unrelated timeframe. Drove me nuts reading about the reverend and then St. Louis and then doll within 20 words of each other. ‘Pick a topic, stick with it,’ I found myself pleading. 

A really great editor should have taken this book and split it into chapters. Dissecting the story, thoughts, ramblings and etc and put them together where they belonged; in a format that was relatable and readable. 

Lila is a challenging character and has been challenged by life in many ways. Her story is sad. I would have loved to have read a more cohesive story of her life. From her childhood to adulthood. Small Lila who was taken, revived by a lonely woman, raised on the run and with a group of strangers, Lila the girl who became a woman with so much missing story in between. Lila who married and settled but never really settling within. Lila who becomes a mother but the story leaves us without telling us what becomes of her. 

So much missing…