It’s been a whirlwind week, and we’re heading to the east coast tonight for the annual family visit. I don’t know how much blogging I’ll be able to do this summer but I’ll at least keep up the weekly and monthly recaps.
The Heirs was okay but it really should have been so much better. By the description, it sounds tailor-made for me and I expected to be raving about it. It had good character development, but that was all it had going for it. The story was somehow ordinary and over dramatic at the same time, and it was kind of a disorganized mess. And I don’t know why there is so much sex in it, when the author is clearly uncomfortable writing about it. This was a big miss for me, I’m not sure I’d be interested in anything else of hers.
I was surprised in a good way by New Boy. I actually almost returned this one unread, but since it was short and looked quick, I brought it with me on a trip and ended up reading the whole thing on a plane. (Thank you, Dash, for falling asleep so I could do that.) Damn, this was good! I absolutely loved it. I’m not a Shakespeare scholar by any means, but I’m really enjoying this Hogarth Shakespeare project. This one is Othello set in an elementary school in the 70s and she just killed it. So good. I’ve only ever read Girl With a Pearl Earring and I may have to read some more of her stuff.
Based on title and cover, I was sure I would love The People We Hate at the Wedding. Nope. Title and cover are pretty much the only good things about this. This is that unfortunate mix of characters who are totally unlikable but also uninteresting. I’m fine with a ‘love to hate’ character, not so much with a ‘hate to read about this person’ character. I couldn’t believe how dull and tedious and unappealing this was. Huge miss here.
I’m not sure what to make of The Answers. It started out so strong, part one was truly riveting. Then part two brings in this weird storyline that was so convoluted and plodding and pretty pretentious. It didn’t really come to anything in the end; the whole thing was kind of a mess. There may be an audience for this one, but it’s a hypermodern writing style that I just never seem to like.
This morning, I’m trying to finish Hey Harry, Hey Matilda before I leave for the airport. I haven’t packed yet so not sure how that will pan out. I started this a couple weeks ago and kind of forgot about it. I’m semi interested to see how it turns out, but I’m thinking this is going to be a case of good premise, not so good execution. The whole thing is emails between adult siblings, so it’s pretty fast; my problem with it has been that Harry is pretty sharp and funny, but Matilda is super grating and sophomoric. Like, it’s annoying me to even think about her right now. I am curious about it though, because it was recommended by someone I respect, but it has a really low rating on Goodreads. I want to know which side I’m on when something’s polarizing, so I better get on it!
