The Girl Who Wasn't There
by Penny Joelson
Pub Date: 03 Nov 2020
Read courtesy of http://netgalley.com
The Girl Who Wasn't There wasn't there for me until 88% through the book. I persevered since I wanted to find out about the mysterious girl who wasn't there, but I hadn't read the description of the book since I first requested the title, and I didn't read the "back cover" of my electronic version of the book. Therefore, I got 88% through the book with a misconception of whom the girl who wasn't there really was. That changed my whole perspective and point-of-view of what I'd been reading and finally made the book somewhat more interesting. (I'm trying not to make a spoiler, so don't read the tags on this post unless you want a spoiler.)
The writing wasn't sophisticated, i.e., probably appropriate for middle as well as high school. However, I'm not sure it would suit reluctant readers; reading about a tired girl gets tiring. The ratio of the story between talking about chronic fatigue syndrome versus talking about the girl who wasn't there, if swayed more toward the girl and less about the syndrome, would have made for a more captivating, engaging read.
On a more positive note, the story's secondary characters of the neighbor and her grandson were well thought out and appealing. On the other hand, the school friends of the main character were more like plot movers and distractions.
I wanted to like it more, but when most of a narrative book entails the many ways of describing how tired someone is, I find myself getting tired, too.
No comments:
Post a Comment