“A surprise is rarely a stranger, but a faceless patient who’s been reading across from you in the waiting room the entire time, his head hidden by a magazine but his orange socks in plain view, as well as his gold pocket watch and frayed trousers.” Part 3, Chapter 35: The Secret Garden
I’m trying to decide if I liked this book. There are aspects of it I loved, and aspects of it that were middling. On the whole, the ending felt sudden and not a little unearned. I don’t regret the ride, but the park job left something to be desired.
This is the story of college freshman Blue Van Meer, reflecting back on her mad cap senior year of high school. After the death of her mother, Blue’s father Gareth can’t seem to bear being in one place more than a few months. After years of transience and impermanence, her father finally decides it’s time to settle down for one whole academic year. What follows is sort of Brickmeets The Secret History (Donna Tartt). There’s at least one murder, an insular cabal of teenagers, and a mystery that Blue, as the outsider, must crack.
Read the rest at: Pop Culture Penalty Box
“There are aspects of it I loved, and aspects of it that were middling. On the whole, the ending felt sudden and not a little unearned.” Boy, did you just nail my feelings about this book. I can never decide if Pessl sticks the landing (or if Blue is even right about ANY of it), but there are so many rich details to be loved in this book.
I thought the story had some issues, but I LOVED the writing. It was the first book I had ever read where I was absolutely, insanely jealous of the author for being able to make those words appear on the page.
She will forever be a “must read” writer for me.
There is much to be jealous of here, for sure.
I have this tendency to try and slightly ape the book when reviewing it, hence two different descriptions of “story good, ending questionable,” ahaha.
It was engrossing, and she can make a clunky metaphor sing better than I think anyone I’ve ever read, but I just can’t decide for sure how I feel about the finished product.
Glad you liked the review!
In retrospect, I DO love it. I don’t think I fully loved it immediately after reading it. Have you read Night Film? That I truly loved…until the end. But I loved it enough that even the ending couldn’t fully ruin it for me.
I waited almost a week after finishing it to write the review, hoping my feelings would settle. I can see it being the sort of book that in a year I look back and like more in retrospect than I do right now. Which sounds like I don’t like it at all now, which isn’t true.