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Book Review of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
reviewed on + 25 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1


Hmmm. This is a good first novel, and I will probably read others he may write in the future. The storytelling is engaging, and you can certainly feel yourself inside Edgar's head. In fact, Wroblewski does a good job of getting you inside the heads of all of the characters, even some not so likeable.

It is gripping, especially as it nears the end. I could not put it down. But, I'm going to have to agree with the others about the ending. I am not one who needs a happy ending to recommend a book, but this was probably the second most unsatisfying ending book I've read (the top award for that goes to Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood). It's difficult to discuss without giving it away, but the general feeling is that the book stops rather than ends, and it does so ambiguously. I had to read the last couple of pages again to see if I missed some clue about what the writer was saying. I'm still not sure what the author intended readers to understand. While I dislike authors who hit you over the head with explanations of the obvious, I equally dislike authors who write ambiguous passages assuming you are following their train of thought and will arrive at the proper interpretation of what happened. I'm not usually so thick-headed as to miss these cues, but I did on this one. Still scratching my head and feeling unsatisfied.

I'll give it 5 stars until the last couple of chapters. I'm backing it down to a 4 overall.