Book Review Friday 1/11/08

Since I was gone last week, this is last weeks book review:

Book: The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters
Author: Elisabeth Robinson
Pages: 352

I found this on the bargain table at Barnes and Noble as I was leaving on our cruise so I picked it up. I read the synopsis and put it in my pile. Olivia has moved from her small Ohioan town to make it big in the movie producing world in LA, but is suddenly called back when her once vibrant, younger sister is diagnosed with Luekemia. In letters written to her ex-boyfriend and a best friend from high school, she has to come to grips with her shortcomings as a human being and a sister.

Once her sister has regained some of her health, Olivia leaves again to regain her life and then cooresponds with her sister and mom through letter writing. There are a few other correspondences included to make the story flow.

Overall, I thought it was a decent book, though--as most books are--forgettable. I could sense what was coming from the beginning so I didn't build a strong connection with the characters. At first, I found it annoying that I didn't know what the letters were sometimes referring to--much like being at dinner with a group of friends who were all at the same party last weekend when you were out of town. You can pick up a lot of what happened, but "it" and "that" aren't really clear. As the story wore on, however, pieces began falling into place, so it flowed much easier.

I got tired of listening to Olivia whine to her "amazing" ex-boyfriend about their flawed relationship. The dissection of the failed relationship took over the middle third of the book and got to be tedious and repetitious. Yes, we know you broke up. Yes, we know it was hard. Move on! It was very much like a high school drama unfolding on paper.

With that being said, I had the entire book started and read by Tuesday, so I guess it did capture part of my attention.