Helpful Score: 10
The premise of this book is interesting, but it somehow fails to deliver. My book club just read this, and we all agreed that this novel starts too slowly, which caused a lot of people to lose interest before the story really developed.
I do think that this could have been edited better; it is sometimes too descriptive without moving the story along. And the way that a lot of loose ends are conveniently and neatly tied up at the end is just an easy way out for an author. You can definitely tell that this is Catherine O'Flynn's first book.
To summarize: it's not the worst thing I've ever read, but it's definitely not the best either. In a word, this book is mediocre.
I do think that this could have been edited better; it is sometimes too descriptive without moving the story along. And the way that a lot of loose ends are conveniently and neatly tied up at the end is just an easy way out for an author. You can definitely tell that this is Catherine O'Flynn's first book.
To summarize: it's not the worst thing I've ever read, but it's definitely not the best either. In a word, this book is mediocre.
Helpful Score: 4
This book was just ok for me. I had a really hard time getting into it, the story never really developed and it was kind of boring to me.
Helpful Score: 3
I just could not get into this book. It felt like I had picked up a preteen novel. I did not finish it but did jump ahead several times trying to find where it became interesting. It never happened.
Helpful Score: 2
Think "Harriet the Spy" for grown-ups. O'Flynn transports the reader to an "innocent" time of childhood imagination gone wild, and accurately captures as well the discontent and dismay of many young adults as well. The characters are interesting and the interweavings of the plot are neither far-fetched nor transparent. I couldn't put this down - had it read in less than 24 hours....
Helpful Score: 2
After hearing such good things about this novel, I was really excited about reading it. However, I was gravely disappointed. While the main character is a young teenager, the novel reads like a plodding, unexciting mystery filled with dull, overserious characters.
