Monday, March 22, 2010

Review: Her Fearful Symmetry

I liked The Time Traveler's Wife. And I wanted to like Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger. I almost liked it. But toward the end, I knew what was coming in the story and I didn't want it to happen. I even stopped reading it for a few days (and much to my chagrin couldn't read anything else). I did finish it because I was so close to the end and I hoped that somehow things would end differently that I expected. They didn't.

It was also hard for me to like any of the characters. Those I liked at first made decisions that made me despise them later and those I despised at first later earned my sympathy--but not quite enough to truly like them. There were some marginal characters that were interesting and almost likable, but I really wanted to like someone in the book more than I did.

Some people might love this book. It is intriguing. It's a story of ghosts, family secrets, and twins who are uncomfortably close. I like weird books and stories, but this one was just a bit over the line where it made me uncomfortable. I don't think Niffenegger wanted her readers to be comfortable with her characters, but for me it made it hard to then care about them.

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