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rdebner's review against another edition
4.0
A coming of age novel, set in a small Dutch Calvinist community in northwestern Iowa in the end months of 1999. It's hard at times not to feel impatient with the 17-year-old Alice, but that may be a feeling of looking back with older eyes on the types of situations she finds herself in and the choices she makes, and wanting to shake her a little, give her some advice from her older self.
lobrarian's review against another edition
3.0
Alice is an honor student and hard worker. Her and her family live on a farm in the middle of nowhere Iowa, and it is Alice's job to not only take care of the farm animals, but her family as well. Alice's younger sister Aldah who is mentally handicapped, and her mother is beyond worried about the impending turn of the century (Y2K). Everything changes for Alice when the Vang family moves in to her very white very Dutch town.
Alice and Nickson, from a strictly visual perception, are opposites. Despite this, the two quickly form a bond and attraction that grows as Alice comes into her own as a young woman.
There was nothing seriously wrong with this book, I just wasn't very happy with the way that it ended. I wanted more from Alice and Nickson, and it seemed to end quickly and way too easy. I wanted to know what Alice's mom's reaction was when the world did not end in the year 2000, and what happened to their family farm. Did Nickson ever come back for Alice? I was left with a lot of questions.
Alice and Nickson, from a strictly visual perception, are opposites. Despite this, the two quickly form a bond and attraction that grows as Alice comes into her own as a young woman.
There was nothing seriously wrong with this book, I just wasn't very happy with the way that it ended. I wanted more from Alice and Nickson, and it seemed to end quickly and way too easy. I wanted to know what Alice's mom's reaction was when the world did not end in the year 2000, and what happened to their family farm. Did Nickson ever come back for Alice? I was left with a lot of questions.
wildpyxie's review
1.0
This is a book that is supposed to be focused on character development, which is what it leads you to believe the whole way through. In the end, this book did not accomplish throughout many pointless interactions and internal dialogue, what it could have. The ending itself felt like a cop-out.
Something didn't seem right about Alice's mother throughout the whole book for me. Alice's mother, through her interactions with Alice, seems to be a total crazy and someone not even worth regarding with respect. Her father seems to fall into the same spectrum, being as he is so indifferent about sending his one child to an institution and his other to a home. These parents seem so uncaring, yet Alice does nothing to really confront them, and still seems to abide by a "family is everything" mindset, even when the rest of the family so easily shows not to care for her.
But then again, you have the whole story following Alice and what she thinks, and it's really hard to decide whether she's just a bratty kid who complains about everything and provides an unreliable perspective, or if she's right in most of her observations and no one ever, not even at the very end of the book, listens to her.
And really, the ending is just a shame. Alice battled throughout most of the book against many obstacles, and then goes completely against character in the last few pages as the story ends.
Something didn't seem right about Alice's mother throughout the whole book for me. Alice's mother, through her interactions with Alice, seems to be a total crazy and someone not even worth regarding with respect. Her father seems to fall into the same spectrum, being as he is so indifferent about sending his one child to an institution and his other to a home. These parents seem so uncaring, yet Alice does nothing to really confront them, and still seems to abide by a "family is everything" mindset, even when the rest of the family so easily shows not to care for her.
But then again, you have the whole story following Alice and what she thinks, and it's really hard to decide whether she's just a bratty kid who complains about everything and provides an unreliable perspective, or if she's right in most of her observations and no one ever, not even at the very end of the book, listens to her.
And really, the ending is just a shame. Alice battled throughout most of the book against many obstacles, and then goes completely against character in the last few pages as the story ends.
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