About halfway through this book I realized that I was reading a sequel. I did a little research online that said that you didn’t necessarily need to read the first book to enjoy the second, but I beg to differ.
Candy House hooked me in the beginning with some great writing – the writer has an edgy modern style, giving me of a sort of tech-savvy Sex in the City vibe. The format of the book was part of what threw me off – a collection of stories of different people, most of whom share some kind of connection from the previous stories, or will illuminate a future character’s story. Here is where reading the previous book makes a difference, I’m guessing.
There is some humor here, some heartbreaking moments, some ridiculous characters and so many people popping in and out of the story that it was honestly a lot to keep in my head. There were also a few sections written in an alternative style – one written by someone from the future in an instruction manual style that just went on and on and was almost unreadable to me. Another was a collection of emails/messages between many different characters, and without knowing the characters very well it became work trying to sort it out. In another book I read recently – “The Appeal” – this was handled much more skillfully.
So, good writing, experimental styles, but without knowing the complete backstory I felt like I was spinning my wheels getting through this. Maybe I should do a little more research before picking my books!
Next I am reading Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie.
