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nhelregel's review
4.0
Decided to pick this one up after watching the trailer for the upcoming movie (half-way through the trailer I somehow knew it *had* to be based on a book). Was pulled in very quickly and read it over the weekend. Kasischke uses a lot of language and phrases I really enjoyed. Every once in a while it gets a little too metaphor-heavy, but most of the language does a great job of snowballing into a very creepy, tactile sense of icy doom. Overall, would recommend to almost anyone who likes mysteries/creepy vibes. Still definitely want to see the movie...
Spoiler
ALSO, I read a few other reviews and someone said that the plot arch/ending would have worked better if this was a novella. I have to say I agree. While I liked the ending, it would have packed more of a punch if the narrative had been shorter.colecordium's review
It was too dry and all over the place. I hope I can finish it one day, but not now.
saltycorpse's review
5.0
One of the best books i've ever read about the dark side of suburbia, and coming of age as a teenager. It nails emotional abuse and the portrayal of impotent masculinity.
EDIT: On a re-read of this, and having seen the movie 4 times, I think the movie did a far better job than the book did on several points, especially clarifying the ending. I don't think the end of the movie was what Kasischke intended, but I think the movie adapted the book extremely well and the changes made were for the better. I still love this book, but I love what the movie did more.
EDIT: On a re-read of this, and having seen the movie 4 times, I think the movie did a far better job than the book did on several points, especially clarifying the ending. I don't think the end of the movie was what Kasischke intended, but I think the movie adapted the book extremely well and the changes made were for the better. I still love this book, but I love what the movie did more.
bbboeken's review against another edition
4.0
Ik had de film een hele tijd geleden gezien, en was benieuwd naar het boek. Dit is die zeldzame keer waarin de filmversie mogelijks beter is dan de boekversie.
lexmcgnns's review against another edition
5.0
I'm not going to lie, I did check out this book because I enjoyed this film so much (wonderful film by the way, beautifully shot, incredible acting 10/10) - but, I can happily say, I am so glad I did! It was everything I was hoping it would be and more. Haunting, suspenseful and just, overall, a really enjoyable reading experience. It's some bizarro mix of a coming-of-age story and a murder mystery and it works SO WELL. This story is dark, but it's more a dark beneath the surface than in your face and I like that. It's got so much realism and depth that it's like your right there the whole time. If I wasn't so busy these past couple of days I would have devoured it in one sitting.
I just want to take a moment to worship [a:Laura Kasischke|119814|Laura Kasischke|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1299788249p2/119814.jpg]'s writing style. It was beautiful. I've never wanted to curl up among the sentences and marry prose so badly in all my life!!! The metaphors, descriptions, it was all so thought provoking and created intense imagery and the perfect backdrop. And that ending, oh boy. I've never hung on to a final sentence so much.
This book is more of character study than plot driven (all though there is plot and IT IS good and developed and concluded) the 200+ pages build up this family of multi-dimensional characters who are simultaneously loveable and loathable, which is something you rarely get in a first person narrative. The novel gives you something new to learn about the character's right until the very last line so that they're constantly growing and adapting as you get to know them.
The novel is told from Kat's point of view. A teenager who's mother seemingly upped and left out of nowhere, at least it looks that way, until Kat is forced to look back and review everything she's ever known about her parents and their marriage and the people she's grown up with. We quickly come to realise that Kat's life isn't the typical suburban dream and there is so much more than meets the eye.
This is definitely a builder rather than twists and plot drops around every corner. I would recommend this to everyone, but especially those who enjoy beautiful language and the focus on character and life development.
I just want to take a moment to worship [a:Laura Kasischke|119814|Laura Kasischke|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1299788249p2/119814.jpg]'s writing style. It was beautiful. I've never wanted to curl up among the sentences and marry prose so badly in all my life!!! The metaphors, descriptions, it was all so thought provoking and created intense imagery and the perfect backdrop. And that ending, oh boy. I've never hung on to a final sentence so much.
This book is more of character study than plot driven (all though there is plot and IT IS good and developed and concluded) the 200+ pages build up this family of multi-dimensional characters who are simultaneously loveable and loathable, which is something you rarely get in a first person narrative. The novel gives you something new to learn about the character's right until the very last line so that they're constantly growing and adapting as you get to know them.
The novel is told from Kat's point of view. A teenager who's mother seemingly upped and left out of nowhere, at least it looks that way, until Kat is forced to look back and review everything she's ever known about her parents and their marriage and the people she's grown up with. We quickly come to realise that Kat's life isn't the typical suburban dream and there is so much more than meets the eye.
This is definitely a builder rather than twists and plot drops around every corner. I would recommend this to everyone, but especially those who enjoy beautiful language and the focus on character and life development.
dreamboatannie's review
2.0
I liked the characters and the plot a lot. I wanted to give this book four stars, but there were moments when I found myself actually irritated by how many metaphors and similes there were in the book. The author seems very enchanted with her own descriptions of things, and I just wanted her to cool it. There were entire pages where two thirds of the text was comparing one thing to another and then the last third were flowery descriptions. Despite all that, though, I remained interested in the story until the end -- an ending that I really enjoyed.
kaylakaotik's review
2.0
I decided to give this book a read whenever I saw the movie trailer. It appeared to be something that I would be interested in, but I always try to read the book first if given the opportunity.
At around 13% or so, I thought about marking the book DNF and just going to watch the movie. By this point in the book, I was already tired of the too long descriptions about things that didn't make a bit of difference to the story. There's a line between well written and overly descriptive and boring. White Bird in a Blizzard crossed that line. However, not one to give up so easily, I decided to stick with the book a little longer to see if something would grab my attention. Unfortunately, that never happened. While I did finish the book, there was never a point where the story took off and truly became interesting.
The story was not only boring, but was disjointed and all over the place. I felt like too much attention was paid to things that were inconsequential and not enough attention was paid to things that would have brought this book to the next level. And although this was a coming of age story about a teenage girl after her mother's disappearance, I didn't really care about Kat. I was much more interested in Eve and her disappearance. Perhaps that's where my main disappointment in the book comes from. It focused much more heavily on something that I didn't care about.
On a side note, very shortly after I finished this book, I watched the movie. I enjoyed it slightly more than I enjoyed the book. I attribute this to the ending of the movie which is slightly different than the ending of the book. So, while I'm not inclined to recommend the movie or the book, if I had to make a choice between the two, I'd say go for the movie in this case.
At around 13% or so, I thought about marking the book DNF and just going to watch the movie. By this point in the book, I was already tired of the too long descriptions about things that didn't make a bit of difference to the story. There's a line between well written and overly descriptive and boring. White Bird in a Blizzard crossed that line. However, not one to give up so easily, I decided to stick with the book a little longer to see if something would grab my attention. Unfortunately, that never happened. While I did finish the book, there was never a point where the story took off and truly became interesting.
The story was not only boring, but was disjointed and all over the place. I felt like too much attention was paid to things that were inconsequential and not enough attention was paid to things that would have brought this book to the next level. And although this was a coming of age story about a teenage girl after her mother's disappearance, I didn't really care about Kat. I was much more interested in Eve and her disappearance. Perhaps that's where my main disappointment in the book comes from. It focused much more heavily on something that I didn't care about.
On a side note, very shortly after I finished this book, I watched the movie. I enjoyed it slightly more than I enjoyed the book. I attribute this to the ending of the movie which is slightly different than the ending of the book. So, while I'm not inclined to recommend the movie or the book, if I had to make a choice between the two, I'd say go for the movie in this case.