ms_tiahmarie's reviews
1089 reviews

Quirky.

Fun! On one hand, a wee bit formulaic. On the other, it breaks out of the mould by focusing on a group of women past their child bearing years - heartening. And the personalities are delightful and spirited. Not thrilled with the cover. Whole book is dealing with women who are battling against being treated as 'invisible' and then they slap on a cover depicting four women in their early 20s. Not good. Disappointing. But that is hardly the author's fault.

Really enjoyed this one. Proulx seems to be able to paint the picture of US rural life without making small town folks saints or stereotype red necks. The people are colourful (and as a small town girl, they are more than believable), with quirks, short comings and grit that should be admired. She touches upon major issues without allowing it to be THE issue of the book. There is a story (stories! - A series of them) which entertains before preaching.

A social commentary on both class, art and academia. Most amusing is how this is a book that begs to be read numerous times in order to fully 'un-peel' it - yet, that is precisely what Shields' warns against. I'll end up re-reading it anyway. The way it is constructed is fascinating.

This is such a touching story. Makes me so sad that the reason I had the opportunity to read it (free e-book) is because it is under the radar in the USA the publishers became desperate. This is too lovely to be under read.

Now I'm left craving red beans. Dang.

Charming.

*My Notes May Contain Spoilers*

Deeply tragic and quietly, but powerfully, disturbing. In the end, I was emotionally required to skim a few bits - which is a disservice to the book, but I have two children of my own. The style of writing echoes the grey damp that is seeped into the story.

I greatly enjoyed this. The writing smoothed out and grew as the story moved along. By the final chapters I was reading the writing style that I've come to love in such works as 'Push-Push.' Perhaps it is due to the difficulty of trying to cram an entire childhood into half a book? Piercing insights into both herself, others and societal behaviour.

The book took a few chapters to 'get its steam up,' as my son would say - but after that, moved right along. Good weekend book.

A unique book which is respectful to young people: their intelligence, problems and language. For this, the author should be applauded. The imagery is disturbing and thought provoking. However, I personally could not set my own emotions aside well enough to give this book an unbiased and fair reading.