tastes like cardboard

Rosie Colored Glasses by Brianna Wolfson
Rating: 2 stars (out of 5)
Genre: fiction
Review:  Willow's parents are complete opposites.  Rosie is a free-spirit who believes in the power of colors, the Rocky Horror Picture Show, and not keeping to a schedule, and seems to exist solely on Pixie Stix, cream soda, and pizza.  Rex is firm and regimented and believes in balanced dinners and to-do lists.  Opposites may attract, but they can also explode.  And what happens to the kids when the attraction ends?  Willow can tell you, but it's not pretty.

This book had the potential to be an interesting exploration of a child's experience of navigating divorced parents. Unfortunately, Rex and Rosie are both such complete caricatures of their types that it felt like reading about cardboard cut-outs.  They are almost exclusively written to type, except when they do something so wholly out of character that it's nearly inexplicable.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

decision-making

House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III

Rating: 3 stars (out of 5)

Genre: fiction

Review: I tend not to like books about people who seem incapable of making good decisions. And one of the characters in this book is definitely like that. She just never seems able (or willing) to take any responsible action. Realistic this may be, but it's also annoying.

Another main character, on the other hand, tends to make good decisions. Decisions that are responsible financially, good for his family, and on the right side of the law. And yet, things don't turn out well for him either.

If this is a book the purpose of which is to show how quickly things can spiral out of control, then it succeeds. Good decisions or bad, no-one wins here. Too many of us, who manage to have lives that are more or less in control, this is a valuable thing to learn about. But this is an awfully depressing education.

second one first

Girlbomb by Janice Erlbaum
Rating: 4.5 stars (out of 5)
Genre: memoir
Challenge: A-Z (author)
Review: I'm kind of glad that I read Janice Erlbaum's second memoir, Have You Found Her, first. It allowed me to read her first one and not have to worry too much that she got seriously hurt. Or went crazy, which is what I think I would have done in her circumstances. Instead, Erlbaum left home, and turned to drugs and sex as a teenager, and she relates her experiences with both with a candor that is unapologetic at the same time it is tinged with regret.

Erlbaum's problems at this time of her life seem to stem from a combination of poor parenting and poor decision-making. Unfortunately, neither the shelter nor the group home into which she is placed seem well-equipped to really help her with either of those problems. It almost seems as though by leaving home she's gone from the frying pan into the fire. It all catches up with her at the end, though, and at the close of this memoir we begin to see the more mature woman that we got to know in her second memoir. I hope she writes a third so that we can continue to share her story.

the difficulties of communication

The Ha-Ha by Dave King
Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)
Genre: fiction
Challenge: A-Z (author)
Review: Although the title might lead one to think that it's funny, this book was described to me as "depressing." In fact, the title refers to a type of hidden retaining wall, rather than laughter. Either way, though, I wouldn't describe the book depressing myself, aside from the steep slide downward toward the end.

Rather, I'd say this book is astonishingly hopeful. Our main character has overcome a great deal of adversity, and managed to make a life for himself despite an injury that has left him unable to speak or to read easily. He has overcome addiction and the death of parents. He has made a life for himself, and achieved an equilibrium largely characterized by his detachment from the people around him.

But when his high school sweetheart asks him to take in her 9-year-old son, Ryan, while she goes to rehab, he finds that they are able to form a bond. But perhaps this emotional reawakening is not all that Howard thinks it will be. Inevitably, though, Ryan must return to his mother, and Howard finds his newly constructed world unraveling.

This is the depressing part of the book, which perhaps is more drawn out than it needed to be. Again, Howard must struggle, but this time, instead of finding solace in solitude, Howard is able to turn to the relationships he formed through Ryan and find comfort in companionship.