remssa's review against another edition
adventurous
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
hannes's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
emp1234's review against another edition
1.0
I know I'm in the minority here, but I really didn't like this book. The story dragged. I found myself several times thinking "Oh for the love of GOD, please get to the point." Too much filler that didn't propel the story and unlikable characters to boot.
lola425's review against another edition
4.0
Excellent. What impressed me most about the book was that Gaige made Eric so real, so human. He was obviously a mess, you would certainly regret fathering a child with him, and yet--maybe not. Eric's s "confession" is simultaneously honest and dishonest, just when you find yourself having some sympathy for him--bam!--he does something utterly selfish and ridiculous that you hope he gets caught and soon. You ever really understand Eric's motivations, he hints at them, but you're never quite sure. Since he is the one telling the story, this makes sense. He still has things to hide, even from himself. The last encounter with his father is just heartwrenching. My only (small) reservation is Meadow, but I always have an issue with the precocious child thing. I've sort of reconciled Meadow's lack of anxiety about the trip to the fact that, once again, Eric, the quintessential unreliable narrator, is the one telling the story.
Well-written, well-paced, made me curious about her other books.
Well-written, well-paced, made me curious about her other books.
carolynf's review against another edition
3.0
The main character has two problems: odds are likely that he will lose unsupervised visitation rights to his daughter, and he is living under a false identity that he created when he was 14. He seems to be a nice guy with very poor decision making skills. If I were his wife I wouldn't want him near my daughter either, even though he obviously loves her to pieces. He moves from one dumb idea to another, in a riveting but very unfunny way. It is like watching a car crash in slow motion, he just keeps digging himself deeper. I kind of thought there would be a twist near the end. The daughter, who is six, talks very strangely. She uses adult phrases like "I don't see why not" that made me think of her not as a character in her own right, but as a fabrication of her father. Him going on and on about her specialness is rather boring. But apparently she is intended to be taken seriously. It is interesting enough for a short read, but I'm glad it wasn't any longer.
lgiegerich's review against another edition
3.0
Eh. Yes, lots of Lolita references, but it just felt tired without Nabokov's beautiful prose. Clever enough, I suppose.
jasonfurman's review against another edition
4.0
A moving novel, in the form of a first person confession by a father who kidnaps his six year old daughter from his estranged wife, goes on the run for about a week and (eerily given the timing) is finally caught in a manhunt in Boston.
As a father of a 6 year-old (and, like the narrator, born in 1970--although the similarities end there given his East German birth, general fraudulence, and estrangement from his wife), I found Eric Kennedy's relationship with his daughter believable, touching, and painful--as he struggles with how to engage with her and then only finally figures it out in their last hours together before his arrest.
The narrative voice was also well done, with a resoundingly authentic and earnest but not always fully self-aware recounting of a less than authentic life.
As a father of a 6 year-old (and, like the narrator, born in 1970--although the similarities end there given his East German birth, general fraudulence, and estrangement from his wife), I found Eric Kennedy's relationship with his daughter believable, touching, and painful--as he struggles with how to engage with her and then only finally figures it out in their last hours together before his arrest.
The narrative voice was also well done, with a resoundingly authentic and earnest but not always fully self-aware recounting of a less than authentic life.
lynnski's review against another edition
4.0
I greatly enjoyed reading this book with the exception if the very last chapter. I found the parts about the main character's ability to change his identity so easily a challenge to believe - especially considering he had a job, paid taxes, got married, and had a child....all under a fake name. I did enjoy the way it was written - the words flowed so nicely.
linseyr's review against another edition
3.0
Beautiful writing, but such a terribly abrupt ending. It was like the author just went "Eh, good enough" at the end.
mrbadger63's review against another edition
3.0
With an almost totally unsympathetic main character/narrator this book was just starting to become a chore before it ended with a ton of unnecessary blathering.