I finished reading this book several days ago now, but still
haven’t been able to start writing a review.
This is a toughie. Can I really
say that I didn’t enjoy it? Or were the
confusing elements presented in an entertaining enough way to give it a thumbs-up? I’m still not sure.
I should tell you up front that I didn’t purchase this book,
nor borrow it from my library. Instead,
I won a copy through a Goodreads.com giveaway.
These things can be a blessing or a curse. Sure, you get to read a new book – many
times, before it’s even released. The
down side, however, is that some of them suck.
I mean really, really SUCK. While
this particular book won’t rank high on my favorite reads of 2013 list, it
didn’t fall all the way down in the suckage puddle, either.
The story revolves around Greta Wells. At the beginning of the book, it’s 1985, and
many elements of Greta’s life seem to be falling apart. Her twin brother, Felix, has just died of
AIDS, while her lover of many years, Nathan, has decided to jump ship and leave
her. What’s a girl to do? Why, she turns to electroconvulsive therapy,
of course. Don’t we all? I *did* say that the year is 1985, didn’t
I? Ah well…
As Miss Wells embarks on these treatments, she travels
through time – back to the Greta of 1918 and 1941. She shifts between years with each session,
waking up first in 1918, then in 1941, followed by 1985, and then starts all
over again. Here’s where everything went
a little off course for me, however.
While the book is generally well written, and should be easy to follow, it’s a little ‘all over the place’ at the
same time. All the same characters are
present during each visit – Felix, Nathan, et al. The problem I had was keeping them all
straight. Sometimes Greta and Nathan
were married, sometimes he was off at war.
Felix was always a homosexual, but at times he was married with a child,
while other times, he was a loner, trying to face who he really was. I can tell you what I was…CONFUSED.
Granted, I’m a relatively fast reader, which can sometimes
work against me. I think that was the
case here. I’d go through the pages at a
rate that made me forget what happened just four paragraphs ago. That’s *not* a good thing when the story is
flipping between three different time periods, involving (for the most part)
all the same characters. That brings me
to my next point, though…
In 1918, Greta has a fling, if you will, with a young man
named Leo. I liked Leo. I wanted to know more about Leo. Sadly, though, Leo seemed like an
afterthought that was thrown in just to add another element of drama. Basically, what came out of the ‘Leo’
storyline could’ve been ripped from any soap opera script. Is now a good time to mention that I don’t
watch soap operas?
I don’t want to give you the wrong impression here,
though. The book was entertaining. It was well written and interesting. To be fair, I should probably sit down with
it and give it another read – more slowly this time. Unfortunately, though, there are far too many
other books to be tackled. So, I’m
sticking with my middle of the road opinion.
Your mileage may vary.
3 Stars
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