A review by offbalance80
Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld
1.0
There are few authors who can write characters that spur me into fits of murderous rage quite like Curtis Sittenfeld can. Curtis, are any of your narrators NOT passive aggressive, mumbling doormats that would die before being noticed and resent those who don't mind attention? JJ Abrahams has lense flare, Wes Anderson has quirky set pieces and you have that, I guess.
As Sisterland unfolds, we learn the story of twins Daisy and Violet, both gifted with psychic abilities they call "senses." Daisy, in true Sittenfeldian fashion, abhors this amazing ability and does just about everything she can to suppress it, because OMG PEOPLE ARE PAYING ATTENTION TO ME AND I CAN'T DEAL WHY CAN'T I BE BOOORRRING. She freaks out at being anything other than the blandest of the boringest of the boring, and even changes her name to Kate at first opportunity, because OMG I CAN'T BE WEIRD. I CAN'T. I'M JUST GOING TO BE MOUSY AND NORMAL BECAUSE I CAN'T HANDLE IT.
It's unfortunate that we only get glimpses of Daisy/Kate's kickass twin sister Vi via her sister's judgmental boringness. Vi is a much more fun character - she's funny, independent, unapologetically quirky and fully embracing of her gifts. I would hang out with Vi in a hot second. I resented every tedious minute with Kate/Daisy. And there were many.
The book bangs on for several hundred pages of suburban intrigues that are the opposite of intriguing, while Daisy/Kate regales us about OMG HER BLACK FRIEND who happens to be a fellow stay-at-home parent and whines at her husband about first how embarrassed she is that her sister predicted an earthquake and then how worried she is that there might be an earthquake. Interspersed with this are hundreds of pages of backstory that proves what an absolute wet rag Kate/Daisy is and always has been, through great effort. The book ends with an absolutely ridiculous chain of events that would have made me throw this book aside with great force were it not contained on my expensive tablet.
This particular character was understandable in Prep, and even to some degree The Man of My Dreams. But after American Wife and now this, I have to plead with the author to find another color. Sisterland would have been much more fun from the point of view of Vi, mocking her dishrag of a sister, who has become the sterotypical Curtis Sittenfeld character.
As Sisterland unfolds, we learn the story of twins Daisy and Violet, both gifted with psychic abilities they call "senses." Daisy, in true Sittenfeldian fashion, abhors this amazing ability and does just about everything she can to suppress it, because OMG PEOPLE ARE PAYING ATTENTION TO ME AND I CAN'T DEAL WHY CAN'T I BE BOOORRRING. She freaks out at being anything other than the blandest of the boringest of the boring, and even changes her name to Kate at first opportunity, because OMG I CAN'T BE WEIRD. I CAN'T. I'M JUST GOING TO BE MOUSY AND NORMAL BECAUSE I CAN'T HANDLE IT.
It's unfortunate that we only get glimpses of Daisy/Kate's kickass twin sister Vi via her sister's judgmental boringness. Vi is a much more fun character - she's funny, independent, unapologetically quirky and fully embracing of her gifts. I would hang out with Vi in a hot second. I resented every tedious minute with Kate/Daisy. And there were many.
The book bangs on for several hundred pages of suburban intrigues that are the opposite of intriguing, while Daisy/Kate regales us about OMG HER BLACK FRIEND who happens to be a fellow stay-at-home parent and whines at her husband about first how embarrassed she is that her sister predicted an earthquake and then how worried she is that there might be an earthquake. Interspersed with this are hundreds of pages of backstory that proves what an absolute wet rag Kate/Daisy is and always has been, through great effort. The book ends with an absolutely ridiculous chain of events that would have made me throw this book aside with great force were it not contained on my expensive tablet.
This particular character was understandable in Prep, and even to some degree The Man of My Dreams. But after American Wife and now this, I have to plead with the author to find another color. Sisterland would have been much more fun from the point of view of Vi, mocking her dishrag of a sister, who has become the sterotypical Curtis Sittenfeld character.