Fiction Reviews

Off Season

Anne Rivers Siddons

Reviewed by Cindy

Have you ever bought an inexpensive cotton t-shirt that at first seemed soft and well-constructed, then went askew around the neck, got stretchy at the waist, and pilled after a few washings? It makes me feel betrayed and disappointed, just like this novel did.
 
My first notes say: “Siddons’ descriptive phrases are masterful. Off Season was a perfect read during a snowy, frigid Midwest winter.” And initially, her delicious descriptions of weather, scenery, flora and fauna on the Maine coast in summer were splendid. The story line was pleasant.
 
Things started falling apart when I realized that 11-year-olds do not speak and think the way Lilly does. The voice is far too mature for Lilly, and her 12-year-old summer boyfriend, Jon Lowell, fares no better. It seems unrealistic that two kids this age who have known each other only a few weeks are talking about eventual marriage. The snotty Peaches Davenport seems to act in a more age-appropriate manner, but is too whiny and jealous to be likeable.
 
Lilly’s brother Jeebs is a fleeting character, more like an afterthought. With his interest in math accelerating, he pushes family away in favor of his studies. His reluctance to be involved with the family is never really explained, but it doesn’t appear to overly concern them.
 
About one-third of the way into the book it escalated into melodrama. Sure, some awful events occurred, but Siddons seemed to become enthralled with her own wordiness, tossing adjectives and phrases around with abandon. Bothersome syntax errors began to annoy me; there was sometimes so much distance between a subject and its eventual modifiers that I was not even certain what was being described. Once I noticed that, I could hardly enjoy the story.
 
Contradictory information confused me. As a young man, was Cam a total ladies’ man or was Lilly his ‘first’? Depends on which page you are reading!
 
Siddons jumped all over the timeline again and again. On one page Lilly is on the beach with her two young daughters and literally on the next page she has returned to the sea cottage as a widow. The effort to keep the action in sequence became exhausting.
 
Here’s an example of Siddons’ use of arcane words: “The air was plangent with silent laughter.” I looked up the word ‘plangent’; it means “making a loud reverberating sound, or a plaintive, drawn-out sound.” Huh? How is that silent?
 
The final chapters get really weird with talking cats and ghostly ospreys. I don’t think Siddons had a clear vision of where she wanted this story to go, so it went all over the place. I found it trite, silly, and soap operatic. No recommendation on this one.
 
 

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Life After Genius
M. Ann Jacoby
Hachette Book Group 

Reviewed by Jen

Theodore (Mead) Fegley is practically a genius.  He attends high school at the age of twelve and college by age fifteen.  As expected, he is also socially awkward and gets picked on frequently by his peers.  He is doing exceeding well at university, when suddenly he decides to pack up and return home with no explanation. 

The story starts off with a bang and the readers are immediately hooked, intent on finding out the details of Mead's story.  The author makes it interesting by weaving back and forth, giving details of Mead's life in both the past and present.  The rest of the book is spent unraveling Mead's story and picking up clues as to why he suddenly bolted home. 

At school, Mead spends an extraordinary amount of time working on a huge project to prove the Riemann Hypothesis, an important mathematical equation.  He is befriended by a rich peer named Herman Weinstein, who appears to take Mead under his wing.  There is a second mystery about a terrible event surrounding Mead's cousin, for which he feels personally responsible. 

Weighing in at 386 pages, this book is lengthy and drags on without revealing enough details to be satisfying.  The mystery behind Mead's cousin turns out to be extremely dull, and the inconsistencies of Weinstein's character are never revealed.  I felt the author did a terrible job of wrapping up loose ends, so that the readers are left wondering about several matters.  What exactly was the relationship between Weinstein and the professor?  Was Weinstein physically abusing his girlfriend? I thought the ending was confusing and deliberately vague. 

I found the beginning of the book to be very intriguing.  Unfortunately, the author could not maintain that level of suspense, and the whole thing spirals downward.  In total, a disappointing read. 

Past reviews:

The Lady Elizabeth by Alison Weir 

Par for the Course by Ray Blackston

Stand the Storm by Breena Clarke

That's (Not Exactly) Amore by Tracey Bateman

 The Darcys & the Bingleys by Marsha Altman

Kushiel's Mercy by Jacqueline Carey

The Lost Dog by Michelle de Kretser 

My Name Is Will by Jess Winfield

 Live a Little  by Kim Green

Sail by James Patterson & Howard Roughan 

Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson