Author: A.S.A. Harrison
Audiobook Narrators: Karen White and Donald Corren
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: June 25, 2013
Source: Goodreads (paperback from the publisher), audiobook from local library
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I just don't understand the hype about this book. I've had it on my shelf for months and I can't even recall how many times I've picked it up, tried to plough through a few more chapters, only to wonder--again--why it's so boring. Surely it should be better, after all the attention it's gotten? But the characters are not just unlikable, they're downright inscrutable. What is their motivation for anything they do? I couldn't get a handle on any of them, and I absolutely could not get myself to care.
Finally I decided to listen to the audiobook, thinking that perhaps a good narration would bring life to the book in a way that my reading of it could not. I frequently assume--or perhaps hope--that if I'm really hating a book that everyone else seems to love, it must be because I'm "reading it wrong." To the best of my knowledge, this has never been the case. But I cling to it just a little longer, hoping that the book will get better if I stick with it. Although the narration was very, very good, it couldn't redeem the book for me. I was bored to tears.
I've heard a lot of comparisons to Gone Girl but I haven't gotten around to reading that yet, so I can't comment on the comparison. I hope it's an inaccurate comparison though; otherwise I might not want to read Gone Girl either (surely it's not as boring as this was?).
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