Synopsis: (Taken from Amazon.com)
When Elspeth Noblin dies of cancer, she leaves her London apartment to her twin nieces, Julia and Valentina. These two American girls never met their English aunt, only knew that their mother, too, was a twin, and Elspeth her sister. Julia and Valentina are semi-normal American teenagers–with seemingly little interest in college, finding jobs, or anything outside their cozy home in the suburbs of Chicago, and with an abnormally intense attachment to one another.
The girls move to Elspeth’s flat, which borders Highgate Cemetery in London. They come to know the building’s other residents. There is Martin, a brilliant and charming crossword puzzle setter suffering from crippling Obsessive Compulsive Disorder; Marjike, Martin’s devoted but trapped wife; and Robert, Elspeth’s elusive lover, a scholar of the cemetery. As the girls become embroiled in the fraying lives of their aunt’s neighbors, they also discover that much is still alive in Highgate, including–perhaps–their aunt, who can’t seem to leave her old apartment and life behind.
Niffenegger weaves a captivating story in Her Fearful Symmetry about love and identity, about secrets and sisterhood, and about the tenacity of life–even after death.
Review:
Her Fearful Symmetry had everything going for it - an interestingly eery cover, spooky graphics on the inside, and an author who received such fame for The Time Traveler’s Wife. This should have been another masterpiece to some extent, but instead – all I wanted to do is poke my eyes out from sheer boredom. Then, I hated it so much I had to twitter about it. I was not happy.
The first chapter will keep your interest. Elspeth passes away and her loving partner wraps his arms around her, unable to let her go. It’s very sweet and Niffenegger does a wonderful job of painting this saddened picture. But then, nothing pretty much happens – ever.
I could only manage to read about 50 pages of this, stopping midway. However, wanting to give it a chance, I kept going. Eventually I had to accept the fact that it wasn’t going to happen and I have decided to return the book to the library where (maybe – just maybe) someone else can enjoy it. After this, I am not sure I will continue reading any of Niffenegger’s books. All the hype and the blow of disappointing reality was just too much.
Did you enjoy Time Travelers Wife? It was my chosen ‘bad’ book of the year that I read, I couldn’t even finish it. I have put AN on my won’t bother to read her work list.
Twitter: WellReadReviews
says:
I liked it! Granted it wasn’t the MOST amazing book – but it surely kept my interest! I was definitely into it from start to finish.
This one, though? Just horrible!
Interesting– now that you mention it, I agree that not much happened at the start, the book was establishing characters and setting, which worked for me.I liked the first 2/3 quite a bit, but was disappointed in the end, so I won’t even try to convince you that it’s worth picking up again
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Twitter: WellReadReviews
says:
I know that it was establishing.. but I don’t know. I just.. couldn’t get into it. It’s a shame because I loved the way it was set up. I loved the graphics and font they used. It gave it a sense of creepiness.
The Time Traveler’s Wife was one of my secret indulgences; though it bordered on overly sentimental, I actually enjoyed it pretty well. I was hoping for something similar in Her Fearful Symmetry, but it looks like I won’t get it. Thanks for the heads up!
Doesn’t seem like my kind of book, either. I didn’t read Time Traveler’s Wife, and I think I’ll scratch this from my to-read list as well. Thanks for the review! p.s. my first comment got erased because I hadn’t entered the CAPTCHA code; is there any way to fix the organization of your comments so that the Submit button is underneath the code, and that way we won’t be as likely to forget?
Twitter: WellReadReviews
says:
I didn’t know about the placement of the captcha because it was a plugin! I don’t see it because I an admin… so I had to log out to see what you were talking about. I can definitely see how that would confuse. I’ll contact the plugin programmer and ask them about how to move it to be above the submit button! Great idea! Thank you!
I so can’t wait to get my hands on this book. I’ve seen such positive reviews and it sounds sooo good!
.-= Michelle´s last blog ..Upcoming Release: The Tension Of Opposites =-.
Twitter: WellReadReviews
says:
Did you not actually read my review? It wasn’t positive, LOL!
RT @wellreadreviews: REVIEW: #49 Her Fearful Symmetry http://t.co/7FTqVirN