This story is incredibly strange and there isn't much point in pretending otherwise. It's meaty, it's unapologetic, it's off beat and uncomfortable at points, and sometimes it seemed to just be telling a story without an end game in mind.

These things will either make or break the story for you. You will either be able to accept the bold way this story asks you to accept the magical realism, or you will think it too strange. You will either fall into step with the tone and rhythm, or you won't be able to sink your teeth into the story within the first few chapters.

The quirkiness is in-your-face and, I believe, purposefully so. I mean she names her villain Nathaniel Sorrows and there is a character that turns into a bird. The best and most magical part of the book is that it is so literal, but it also manages to open itself up to metaphorical interpretation. So, back to our villain named Sorrows, here he is in a book where the sorrows of these women stump their progress and their chances of discovering true (healthy, real) love.

I suppose part of the reason why I enjoyed it is I understood a little more in the "love makes us fools" theme the author wove throughout the story. The very problematic depictions of love were the point to me, and not the problem. We saw a story of people who through generations chose to invest their love and trust in the wrong people. Who found people obsessed with their differences and not in love with their person. It's a sad thing, and that atmosphere permeates through the story.

It's hard to think of what else to say. I loved it, I couldn't wait to talk about it once I was done with someone who'd also read it, and I want to read it again to catch all the nuances of the writing.