A review by tonythep
Eggshells by Caitriona Lally

2.0

I feel like this might have made a good short story. The premise is interesting. Vivian is under the delusion that she's a changeling, a child of fairies who was swapped with a human child. She wanders the streets of Dublin searching for a portal back to the fairy world. And then she traces her route on a piece of paper and describes the shape she's made. "A pony with a corn cob pipe up its ass." (Ok, I made that one up.) She does this over and over and over again. She writes down whimsical names in her notebook over and over. Street names, birds, insects, biscuits. She interacts with people who don't understand her- again and again and again. "Are you taking the piss?!" It could be sad. It could be heartbreaking - if it weren't so annoying! I wanted to stop reading this after 50 pages or so. But I had to see if this could possibly continue for the whole book without any real action or character development. It did. I know this author is talented, and many people liked the book. I'll just have to file it under "just didn't get it."