#24 - One Plus One by Jojo Moyes

Thank you to Netgalley, Penguin Group Viking and Jojo Moyes for allowing me an advanced reader copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

To be honest, this was more of a 3.5.  I loved the characters in the book and how the events were put in motion throughout the novel.  As is the case with most of Moyes writing, everyone has a distinct personality and voice and I LOVE how every chapter is told by a different perspective but is still told in the third person.  So many writers these days try to take on too much when bouncing between characters but this one was done beautifully.  There were definitely parts in this book that the single momma/momma bear side of me started raging! Moyes treatment of the situation with the ex was perfectly executed.

So where did the 1.5 stars disappear for me? Predictability.  In the first few chapters you can smell the set up: Poor downtrodden girl cleans the house of a Rich dude.  A sudden need for a huge sum and a need for a road trip arises...wonder who is going to help her sort it out?  Genius little girl needs to take a big exam to win lots of money...well that one had a little turn in it but I could sniff out the twist in that one too.  That in by no means took away from my enjoyment of the book itself it just shaved off enough to keep this from being one of the truly great ones of my reading year.

Totally pick it up and go to the pool, the beach, read it in the bleachers between the interminable summer ball games and enjoy! It's definitely more than your typical chick-lit but if you are a Moyes fan, don't expect "The Girl You Left Behind" from this one.

#22 - The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

It's hard to even know where to begin with this book, it is so dense with imagery, metaphor, symbolism, tragedy and convergence that it makes it hard to critique.

Donna Tartt is a gifted author that has a way with making each of her settings throughout the book distinct and set apart from all of the other sections.  So distinct, in fact, that at times I forgot that I was still reading the same book. I was looking back through my notes thinking "Oh yeah that happened in this book too didn't it? Wow"

The first section with Theo's mother was so lovely that it was jarring to see that vignette get destroyed.  The section with the Barbours and Hobie gave a sense that things could still turn out alright and, though the light had changed, there was still light to be seen.  Then Vegas happened and we all took a very different ride. The contrast of the bright, glaring, shiny veneer of the setting against the dusty, nostalgic  but warm and inclusive scenes in New York was another jolt to the readers system. And then Amsterdam was a cluster of unbelievable proportions that seemed disjointed from everything else, yet somehow still inevitable given the path that Boris and Theo journeyed down.

I admit to page skimming a bit through some of the long tangents of art history, furniture making, sailing, and the multiple tangents about the beauty of the painting etc. The novel could have easily been trimmed by 100 or more pages by taking out some of those side cars but yet, it also showed the disjointed, stream of conscious mind of a boy that lost so much, so soon and so consistently throughout his life.

I was able to predict what Boris did by how he reacted when Theo left so I wasn't surprised about the fate of the painting.  That plot line tied up a little bit too neatly considering what happened in trying to retrieve it but I did appreciate that there was gain to be had.  It felt like maybe the provenance came from Theo's mother, connecting the circle back.

Goodreads rating: 4 stars

Read date: May 12, 2014