I have picked up and put down What Has Become of You so many times, not because it isn't good (I still can't decide on that yet) or boring (it's definitely not that!) but because the level of creepiness to it unnerves me.
The really weird thing is that I'm not sure if I'm supposed to feel creepy about the main character or the events going on in her life. Vera Lundy is sometimes someone to empathize with, other times someone you just don't understand. She can even be dislikable when it comes to how she relates with strangers, though many parts of her strike me as realistic even if those parts aren't something you want in a teacher.
The stars on Amazon are pretty much straight down the line:
20 Reviews
| 5 star: | (4) | |
| 4 star: | (6) | |
| 3 star: | (5) | |
| 2 star: | (3) | |
| 1 star: | (2) |
Author and book review publications seem to like it:
“It takes a lot to creep me out--I spent my youth reading Stephen King under the covers--but Jan Elizabeth Watson has more than succeeded in this gripping literary thriller. Part gloss on The Catcher in the Rye, part millennial The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, What Has Become of You is that rare beast: a page-turner that asks dark, difficult questions about the state of contemporary American society.” –Joanna Smith Rakoff, author of A Fortunate Age
Kirkus gives it a glowing review with a great opening line:
Vera Lundy's had a little trouble letting go of her high school demons, so teaching 10th-grade English might not have been the wisest career choice.
I'll give the novel another chance because I honestly want to know what happens and there are times when I feel like I'm almost reading a Shirley Jackson novel (which is a good thing.)
There's also the side of Vera that I truly feel for which keeps her human for me, even if later on she makes colossal personal and professional mistakes.
No comments:
Post a Comment