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littletaiko's review against another edition
3.0
You Remind Me of Me was an overall enjoyable read. It's the story of three different peoples lives and how they are intertwined. Overall I found the characters to be believable though a little bid sad. The ending seemed a bit rushed to me and left some things unanswered, but then again I guess that's how life can be.
lilcoop71's review against another edition
4.0
I liked this so much better than AWAIT YOUR REPLY. I wish I had read this one first. Be warned: It's really desolate. But if you like dark and desolate, as I do, you will really enjoy it.
mildibobildi's review against another edition
3.0
I listened to the audiobook version of it instead of reading it, and at times I found it hard to keep track of the timeline.
The book meanders a little, and there are times when I got impatient and wished that the story would move along more quickly. Also, I found it difficult to find any character who at least wasn't annoying, let alone likeable. Overall, it wasn't a bad book, but I wasn't super impressed by it.
The book meanders a little, and there are times when I got impatient and wished that the story would move along more quickly. Also, I found it difficult to find any character who at least wasn't annoying, let alone likeable. Overall, it wasn't a bad book, but I wasn't super impressed by it.
dhaugen612's review against another edition
4.0
This one is a stomach-twister, following the well-intentioned but increasingly poor decisions of a brother desperate to escape his loneliness. I love the scenery and people that Dan Chaon creates, almost always in some fading small town on the Midwestern plains.
willkay's review against another edition
2.0
You Remind Me of Me by Dan Choan
As I started this book I was reminded of another book I have read, The Tesseract. I loved the Tesseract - it is a story that tells of single hour/moment to six totally disparate people whose lives suddenly collide. The book, however, rather than dealing with the moment, spends the time filling in the lives and back stories of the six people. I found the lives of each person fascinating but, by the end (or at least two thirds of the book) felt that the writer, Alex Garland, lost his nerve. Instead of telling the last two character's stories with the same depth, he sort of "bottled out" and just went for the ending of the book. By the end I sort of felt cheated and a book that I was really enjoying and had invested emotionally into, became a bit "meh".
You Remind Me of Me does the same thing. It tells stories about people however these people are all linked. The beginning of the book is understanding how these lives are linked. The author uses a system of jumping around chronologically so that different parts of the tale get filled in and different times. It also adds to the suspense as you try to put the clues together. The book is divided into three parts and the first part is wonderful. Picking up clues, understanding the motivation of the characters, knowing how things are going to happen, builds the suspense. By the time I had got through 150 pages I was seriously enjoying the book. And then the book managed to remind me of The Tesseract again. The final 200 pages just don't work as well. You feel that the author has given up. Once he has these fully rounded characters he becomes lazy and really doesn't write about them with as much depth and feeling - he tends to write with "broad strokes" letting the reader fill in the details.
On the whole it was an enjoyable read. After the first half of the book I was ready to recommend this to anyone and everyone because the first half was brilliant. However, having got to the end I wouldn't recommend this. If you get the chance to pick it up in a "Buy 2 get 1 free" moment and you can't find that third book - go for it. If someone gives it to you as a present, well done! But I wouldn't recommend that you spend your money on it!
goodmorningidea's review against another edition
5.0
Dan Chaon writes characters so well. There is a lot of loneliness and yearning in this book specific to the characters but relatable nonetheless.
vicioustrollope's review against another edition
4.0
based on a short story published in harper's magazine (how many great books have had similar origins?), dan chaon's first novel is a nuanced and detailed story of three lives in varying stages of redemption. a teenaged mother sent away to wait out her pregnancy, a man deformed in boyhood by a vicious dog, and an out-of-luck loser who continues to fall into the same traps of drugs, alcohol, and irresponsibity-- all whose stories are woven beautifully. the focus of this novel is character, and chaon does a masterful job of eliciting sympathy and making the reader care deeply about these lives.
pearseanderson's review against another edition
4.0
Goddamn, Dan is great at what he does. I finally got to this work of his and it's exactly what I expected: Great Plains psychological thriller playing with memory, family, adoption, crime, and our purpose in the day-to-day sludge of life. It's fantastically done, one of the cleanest books I can think of, with miles of praire in all directions. Dan was my former advisor, and he's done well here.
melissakuzma's review against another edition
3.0
This was really good and I enjoyed reading it, but in my opinion it's not nearly at the level of Dan Chaon's next two novels, Await Your Reply and Ill Will.
And for you animal lovers out there, be warned there are a couple of very disturbing scenes with dogs that I had to skip over, so watch out for that.
And for you animal lovers out there, be warned there are a couple of very disturbing scenes with dogs that I had to skip over, so watch out for that.