I was drawn in by the title; stark, minimalist cover; and blurb -- who could resist seeing what a whole family does with prophecies about their lives?
The first paragraph goes very descriptive of a girl's body very quickly, and as far as I can tell for no purpose other than to plunk this down into willing-to-be-blunt literary fiction -- it put me off. Although it's meant to, I think, be representative of change and adolescence, there's a vague sexuality about it that feels really awkward and frankly offputting. But, once I got past that to the meat of the writing, it really drew me in. I come from a Jewish family who grew up in New York, so the trappings of the family and the area they live in were familiar, and my mom's recollection of 1969, when the story begins --she's just a little older than the oldest of the siblings -- feels familiar too.
I was definitely drawn in by Klara and her obsession with magic and rebellion against expected norms. I was also intrigued by the youngest, Simon, growing up gay in a religious household and who clearly has the fate to die the youngest. I'm hoping that this isn't "and then he gets AIDS", because that seems like a cheap shot, but at the same time I do want to read more about these siblings.
The first paragraph goes very descriptive of a girl's body very quickly, and as far as I can tell for no purpose other than to plunk this down into willing-to-be-blunt literary fiction -- it put me off. Although it's meant to, I think, be representative of change and adolescence, there's a vague sexuality about it that feels really awkward and frankly offputting. But, once I got past that to the meat of the writing, it really drew me in. I come from a Jewish family who grew up in New York, so the trappings of the family and the area they live in were familiar, and my mom's recollection of 1969, when the story begins --she's just a little older than the oldest of the siblings -- feels familiar too.
I was definitely drawn in by Klara and her obsession with magic and rebellion against expected norms. I was also intrigued by the youngest, Simon, growing up gay in a religious household and who clearly has the fate to die the youngest. I'm hoping that this isn't "and then he gets AIDS", because that seems like a cheap shot, but at the same time I do want to read more about these siblings.