Thursday, September 2, 2010

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender

This post should be called The Particular Sadness of Christine's Book Choices.  I enjoyed the beginning of this book so much, but then it became so weird that it lost me.  The story is about Rose, a girl who discovers that she can feel the emotions of others through food that they prepare.  The beginning grabbed me right away and several things were brought into the story that were really intriguing.  The problem is that some things were just dropped.  I kept waiting for more, but it wasn't there.  Then there was Joseph, Rose's brother.  I can't explain my problems with his storyline without big spoilers, so I won't be specific.  I assume that the author wanted the readers to take his story metaphorically, but it definitely seemed like she wanted us to take it literally, which would be too weird. 

I also have to mention the lack of quotation marks.  The book was mainly dialogue, but there were no quotation marks.  Since it was written in first person, this was beyond confusing.  I had to keep stopping to figure out if Rose said something or simply though it to herself.   Overall I found this to be a very disappointing book.  Again, there are plently of glowing reviews out there so this is just my take on it.  I think I found another 2/5. 

6 comments:

Lee said...

Strangely enough, I still want to read this book.

Christine said...

Lee, You might really like it. I seem to be the odd man out as far as the reviews go. But email me when you do!

Jeannette said...

I read through a few reviews on Goodreads before taking this off of my tbr pile. There were several reviews that echoed your view of this book, both the weirdness and the lack of punctuation. The GR reviews were not as kind as your review, either. I won't be reading it.

Literary Feline said...

I'm so sad. I really want to read this but no one I know has enjoyed it. :-(

Lee said...

You never know, it could be right up your alley. I recently read a book that three of my friends hated and I loved it. Go figure!

Christine said...

Wendy, Don't let me influence you if you are wanting to read it. It just wasn't for me.