There were a few questions on my last post about the books I've read in Book Club, so here's a little recap of each.
I really enjoyed this book, not only because it was SUPER SHORT but it also made for really great discussion for our first meet-up. We had so many questions, and the ending really got us talking. **SPOILERS AHEAD** I thought the boy died at the end, and I even thought this was a no-brainer, totally obvious conclusion, but the group was pretty split on this and apparently many people aren't quite so cynical and EVERYONE DIES! like me.
I'm going to become unpopular. I didn't love this, not really at all. I wasn't engaged with the story, oh, ever, and it's not that I found it disturbing or emotional, I just found it a brave/interesting idea executed without much heart. (I know, I feel kind of heartless myself saying that!) I didn't really love any character -- and while I suspect that was actually intentional -- it just never grabbed me.
I also had some issues with the plot and then how the story climax went down but it did make for interesting conversation, so that was a perk.
Now, let's get the bad out of the way first: THIS BOOK IS 550 PAGES LONG. That's too long. I'm sorry, I don't care how brilliant a book is, 550 pages is too long. (Thank goodness for a long flight to Seattle to force me through the first 300 pages.)
Once I got through those first 300 pages, though, I fell in love with the book and there were parts in the last section that read like poetry to me. It ended beautifully, I thought, and I sobbed my way through those final sections.
But without Book Club or that long flight, I would have put this book down, I know it. I just can't tell any busy person to push through 300 pages to get to the good stuff, but if you feel like making the choice yourself, I think you'll be happy you did.
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If you like this kind of thing, maybe I'll write mini-reviews for all our Book Club books. We'll see!