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- Verified Buyer
I adore Janet Fitch and her writing style, but had mixed feelings while reading this book. I would give it a 4.5, but think Fitch's talent warrants rounding up. I don't generally subscribe to trigger warnings, but I will say that this book has the capacity to drag you down into places you might not want to go.The story revolves around Josie, a young woman who's dealing with the death of her boyfriend Michael. Josie comes from a troubled background and had never felt loved or valuable until she met Michael who she sees as having been perfect. He was highly educated, intelligent, cultured, a talented artist, and from a wealthy family - everything she feels she isn't. His death spirals her into a morass of depression, self-doubt, and questions about whether he had ever really loved her.Josie is a punk-rock girl in 1980's LA. She's filled with self-loathing, anger, and defiance even before her boyfriend's death. Despite being a 3rd person narrative, we spend the entire book inside her head, experiencing her depression, feeling her insecurities. If you've ever been depressed or dealt with a depressive, this book will probably make you see how tedious and exhausting the illness can be. Josie can be annoying and her self-flagellation becomes a bit tiresome at times (as it does for the one who suffers from it). On this point I am conflicted as to whether I should applaud Fitch for captivating the experience so well or to criticize the book for being unenjoyable in this regard. I didn't enjoy Josie's journey, but at the same time, I shouldn't given the circumstances.Where I did find more enjoyment is with the relationship between Josie and Michael's mother Meredith. Fitch writes strong, unlikable female antagonists quite well and she shines at cultivating combative mother-daughter type relationships. Meredith is Josie's challenge and catalyst for change.Fitch writes character driven narratives and in this regard she succeeded. Josie is a three-dimensional character with many warts who changes throughout the novel. What I struggle with is whether or not I liked Josie enough as a character to hold my interest. I certainly found myself more sympathetic to her as the book went on, but I struggled at the beginning to stay focused and feel for her despite her predicament. Perhaps this was my mood and personal preferences, but I did not connect with her easily. As I came to understand her background I found myself more invested in her, but it was tough getting there.One thing that has been noted by other reviewers that I will concur with is that I didn't find the metaphors in this novel to be as compelling as White Oleander. The imagery was more beautiful in that book and much more mundane and ugly in this one. In a way, that makes more sense for the character of Josie and what she was going through. She's in a dark place and to borrow a cliche, everything she's experiences tastes like ash. I kept thinking about the Southpark episode where Stan sees and hears everything as excrement. That is Josie's entire being throughout this novel and that can be very weighing on the reader yet also incredibly honest for the character.I will read anything Fitch writes because I enjoy her prose, but I'm uncertain I would want to read this book again. It's very emotionally taxing, made me feel icky, and there was less payoff for me overall. However, I'm still glad I read it and there are things I really like about it. I would still recommend it to people who don't mind being dragged into dark places, but it's understandable that some people will not want to be taken on that particular ride.
