Suggested for reading list as a book with humour, this novel is distinctly unfunny, with the exception of pages 222-223. Perhaps the ‘mis-label’ turned me off from the start. Added to that: only one likeable character, Bee, resilient daughter of a dysfunctional union (distant genius father with also genius, now fallen, falling-apart but loving mother, Bernadette); plus a staccato, email structure as the construct to advance a plot relying on exaggerated and improbable characters and situations which strain credibility. I mean, who lives in a crumbling ex-school where vines are coming through the floor? Though I put the book down at the ‘intervention’ to commit Bernadette, her escape intrigued me. I admit I was rooting for her, for Bee, and for a happy ending. Incredible but happy it was. 5/10
Where’d You Go, Bernadette Maria Semple, 2012
Suggested for reading list as a book with humour, this novel is distinctly unfunny, with the exception of pages 222-223. Perhaps the ‘mis-label’ turned me off from the start. Added to that: only one likeable character, Bee, resilient daughter of a dysfunctional union (distant genius father with also genius, now fallen, falling-apart but loving mother, Bernadette); plus a staccato, email structure as the construct to advance a plot relying on exaggerated and improbable characters and situations which strain credibility. I mean, who lives in a crumbling ex-school where vines are coming through the floor? Though I put the book down at the ‘intervention’ to commit Bernadette, her escape intrigued me. I admit I was rooting for her, for Bee, and for a happy ending. Incredible but happy it was. 5/10
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