A review by writerrhiannon
The Scent of Pine by Lara Vapnyar

2.0

I requested this novel because I'm always interested in women's midlife crises. I like that most of these types of novels focus on how the woman has "had enough" and is now "going to put herself first." This novel alternates between Lena discovering her sexuality at camp and having a sexual re-awakening when she steals away for the weekend to a cabin in Maine. Not a comfy, cozy cabin but a cabin with no heat and no toilet. Not exactly condusive to wild romance. As Lena confides her memories of being a camp counselor, there is an undercurrent of fear. Missing soldiers, scared children, and aliens, (yes, aliens) pepper the stories she tells Ben. The climax is expected to be startling and shocking but instead is just a series of sad twists and false memories.

Read my full review here: http://www.ivoryowlreviews.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-scent-of-pine.html