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scmiller's review against another edition
4.0
Better than the first time I read it. A book that depicts reality very effectively. Life sets a person up with expectations that often aren't met or are rejected. Things are unfair. There aren't always ideal and happy endings.
monasterymonochrome's review against another edition
2.0
This is a book I've had on my shelf for so long that I've forgotten where I even picked up the recommendation in the first place. Unfortunately, I probably would not have finished reading it if I didn't feel attached to it by virtue of owning it for years. The first chapter was intriguing, evocative, and vaguely unsettling, but then I felt like I just spent most of the book waiting for something interesting to happen again. Things did get intense and weird in the last few chapters, but by then it was too little too late. Most of the book up until that point felt like set-up that moved at a snail's pace, and the characters weren't compelling enough to me to keep it from feeling like a slog.
_mallc_'s review against another edition
1.0
This book was three parts way to racy for me and one part way to pervy. That being said, I still had to find out what was going to happen to the poor deranged saps that the book centered on. This book was not my style but it's structure was very interesting and the characters were endearing even if they were hopelessly troubled.
guiltlesspleasures's review against another edition
4.0
This was a chance pick-up from the library - I'd never heard of Lisa Moore before. After a powerful opening chapter, this settles into shortish chapters from several characters' points of view. At first, I was a bit unsure that I could stick with her particular syntax for a whole book, but after that initial burst of fireworks, she toned it down a bit. It's really more a series of loosely vignettes than a 'complete' novel, but I enjoyed the characters' stories and admire her writing. It really only got gripping about a third of the way through, but it's worth checking out.
vicki_s's review against another edition
2.0
I have no idea what this book was. Just shitty and crass characters painting an ugly portrait of St. John's. I didn't care for the zigzaggy writing, it felt too contemporary and artificial. It wasn't that bad, I just prefer a bit more straightforwardness. I'm not put off Lisa Moore, I'd still like to read February, but this one wasn't for me.
lizruest's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
thepoptimist's review against another edition
3.0
It's all beautiful bits of writing. Each chapter a finely wrought gem. There's a beautiful chapter on a failed marriage, a forgotten bottle of champagne, scribbling a script at stop lights and a car dying in the snow with her son in the back. The pages are filled with cyphers and symbols. As a whole it just doesn't feel like it's moving anywhere. Titling it Alligator and opening with the image of the alligator farmhand left me holding onto that thread for most of the book waiting for the payoff. It never really comes.
tnbcgirl's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
clarehitchens's review
4.0
2nd time round for this book for me. I rated it 3 starts originally and then, after reading and being totally captivated by February, Moore's latest book, I decided to give this one another try. I'm about half way through and liking it much better this time. I wonder why? I suppose my reading tastes may have changed in the last couple of years. I anticipate a movement to 4 stars for this one.
jeslaine's review against another edition
4.0
This book is full of beautiful prose and characters that are full of vibrancy. I loved the style; the way it bounced back and forth through memories and moments the way your mind runs off on a tangent when you are thinking of something. I might have preferred the book to have 1 or 2 less characters and more of a focus on the people who are in it from the beginning but it seemed that the more I read about some of them, the less I knew about their characters. People became defined by sets of actions, and like narrative of the film that the character Madeleine is making, they all seem to become caricatures of a certain aesthetic instead of real people. It is the tiny moments in their lives described with precision and simile that really stand out in this book; a hand on someone's arm, the way a sales girl can sometimes make you desire something you don't like and don't need. These things are its strongest moments and make it a definite worthwhile read.