Alicia G. - reviewed on 10/8/2010 + 52 more book reviews

Shannon Hale is a great writer, but she's using her talent for evil with this book. This book will take you on an emotional roller coaster, and personally I did not enjoy it. I couldn't put it down in most places, it made me sob, it made me laugh, it made me depressed. And after all that, after investing completely in the characters to the point of extreme and possibly insane empathy, the ending was not cathartic at all. (I realize we usually complain about the "predictable" outcome, but in this case it would have been a relief.)

Despite it's ridiculous fantasy of a plot (please: the actor and the housewife? it gets better: he's basically Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise and she's a Mormon from Utah), this book takes the most painful of all "realistic" outcomes (the type that, yes, we all experience from time to time but optimistically hope will not become the norm) and makes you feel like even in your movie star fantasies you can't escape from them. Fun!

But take my sarcasm with a grain of salt and as the warning I intend it to be. If you enjoy Hale and are braver than me about books that toy with your emotions and refuse to give you a predictable ending, definitely give this a try. It is well-written and unique.

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