A review by nicolestep
The Life and Death of Sophie Stark by Anna North
2.0
An appropriate subtitle for this book would be "People from Really Fucked-up Homes Do Irrational Things When Not Thinking About Sex".
I loved the idea for this book. I loved the idea of circling around a character's center, but never accessing her. Seeing the different sides she shows to different people. Getting her essence but never an explanation. The idea would have worked well except for the fact that every single supporting character is the same.
Probably the most obvious sign is that every single character has the exact same voice. That's just tragically disappointing writing. They all speak in these long, rambly, compound sentences. Seriously, this author averages the word "and" two or three times a sentence. That style worked for me at first. But after four characters sounding exactly identical it started to grate. The only possible explanation for everyone sounding identical is that they all have identical backstories. They all come from equally fucked-up homes with one defining trauma in their lives. I just started rolling my eyes and saying "of course" every time we got a new melodramatic backstory.
Maybe that's why I couldn't care about the characters. The revolving cast of narrators all feel exactly the same and don't really feature in each other's stories until the last two chapters. (But I will say that was a really cool touch.) However, I just couldn't bring myself to care about a character whom I would never meet again. I got so sick of reading these people's traumas and revelations, because they all felt relentlessly insignificant.
Ok, complaining aside, there is an interesting novel hidden in here. It just needed more work and editing. It's a quick read, and the concept is really interesting, although not well executed. As a reader, I found Sophie interesting, but not attractive. I couldn't quite feel why all these characters were so drawn to her, although I can understand when I think about the story after the fact. I think it was her intense attention - the way she listened, the way she wanted to know everything without interjecting her own ideas or opinions. The way she made you the center of the world.
In the end, I don't think I would recommend this book. Wasted potential just gets me worked up. And unless you're willing to sit through almost 300 pages of sentences like this:
you're better off spending your time with another book.
I loved the idea for this book. I loved the idea of circling around a character's center, but never accessing her. Seeing the different sides she shows to different people. Getting her essence but never an explanation. The idea would have worked well except for the fact that every single supporting character is the same.
Probably the most obvious sign is that every single character has the exact same voice. That's just tragically disappointing writing. They all speak in these long, rambly, compound sentences. Seriously, this author averages the word "and" two or three times a sentence. That style worked for me at first. But after four characters sounding exactly identical it started to grate. The only possible explanation for everyone sounding identical is that they all have identical backstories. They all come from equally fucked-up homes with one defining trauma in their lives. I just started rolling my eyes and saying "of course" every time we got a new melodramatic backstory.
Maybe that's why I couldn't care about the characters. The revolving cast of narrators all feel exactly the same and don't really feature in each other's stories until the last two chapters. (But I will say that
Spoiler
the fact that this whole book turned out to be a documentaryOk, complaining aside, there is an interesting novel hidden in here. It just needed more work and editing. It's a quick read, and the concept is really interesting, although not well executed. As a reader, I found Sophie interesting, but not attractive. I couldn't quite feel why all these characters were so drawn to her, although I can understand when I think about the story after the fact. I think it was her intense attention - the way she listened, the way she wanted to know everything without interjecting her own ideas or opinions. The way she made you the center of the world.
In the end, I don't think I would recommend this book. Wasted potential just gets me worked up. And unless you're willing to sit through almost 300 pages of sentences like this:
"I could tell she didn't quite believe me, but she kissed me anyway and we had beef stew with egg noodles, and I read Emma a book about horses, and when I checked my e-mail that night I had a message from Sophie."
you're better off spending your time with another book.