zinelib's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
As a long-time Gabrielle Zevin fan, who has loved all of her books, I'm baffled by her first, Margarettown. It has an unlikeable/unreliable male narrator in love with a manic pixie dream girl who contains multitudes. I don't want to describe it further, other than to ask why it's classed as a YA novel, when it isn't. I did dog ear some pages, so let's see what's going on there...
"An echo makes for very good company," Old Margaret said. "Whenever I'm lonely, I always try to find one to talk to. They're much better than mirrors. Mirrors say nasty things about you. Echoes are far more supportive. They think whatever you say is completely brilliant."
I mean, I didn't say Zevin is a bad writer or has bad ideas.
But underneath it all, underneath the wide hips, Bess is a great gal.
The narrator, being misogynistic and unlikeable.
page 250 has a heartbreaking passage about the inner life of a six-year-old that's too long to type with my cat starting at my fingers typing on my keyboard.
page 250 has a heartbreaking passage about the inner life of a six-year-old that's too long to type with my cat starting at my fingers typing on my keyboard.
Content Warnings
Minor: Fatphobia
ageism doesn't warrant a content warning apparently
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