This was terrifying to read in part because I have kids, but also because of the choice of POV. The story unfolds from the perspective of a nine year-This was terrifying to read in part because I have kids, but also because of the choice of POV. The story unfolds from the perspective of a nine year-old girl, and what she does and does not know further informs the story. As an adult, you can fill in some of the missing pieces, and mourn that a child must hold the burden of secret knowledge.
My major issue was with the end, which seemed a bit abrupt and slightly tacked on and sensational. It didn't seem to fit with the deliberation of the rest of the book.
A 25-year-old woman is called a "girl" (and not in the hipster, ironic way we gals call each other that) on the first page, and it's all downhill fromA 25-year-old woman is called a "girl" (and not in the hipster, ironic way we gals call each other that) on the first page, and it's all downhill from there.
Not that I blame him. It's sort of the equivalent of "N@gger Jim." But it's sort of disturbing to be thrown back to a time where it's considered up to a 19-year-old's FATHER to decide whether or not to report an attempted gang rape.
Also, the big climatic disaster at the end has a sort of wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am quality....more
**spoiler alert** I found this book to be too predictable... something many people said about her first book as well (what can I say, I personally did**spoiler alert** I found this book to be too predictable... something many people said about her first book as well (what can I say, I personally didn't see it coming in that one...) I knew what would happen right around the time the ghost showed up. And, once the whole thing happened with the kitten, I almost stopped reading.
I mean, really? The deep dark secret is that the twins were really Elspeth's kids? And she traded places with Edie (and let Edie "live her life"?) Gee, maybe if you hadn't given away the game in the second chapter I might have been bowled over by that revelation.
The male characters in this book were sort of pointlessly flat. She tried to give them depth but they just seemed to be a bundle of stick figures with some tics attached. They were all defined by the women in their lives. Maybe that was an intentional play on what female characters usually are.
Another annoying thing about her writing was that she would switch POV even in mid-sentence. It was confusing. I didn't notice this with TTW so I may need to go back and reread.
Quite a disappointment, given that TTW was one of my favorite books of all time....more
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