Book Chatter

Reconstructing Amelia
By Kimberly McCreight
(Harper, Hardcover, 9780062225436, April 2013, 400pp.)

The Short of It:

Is it possible to know everything about a person? What if that person is your own daughter? For Kate Baron, she thought she could answer these questions without hesitation, but when disaster strikes and so many questions are left unanswered, she’s forced to admit that she doesn’t know her daughter that well after all.

The Rest of It:

Critics everywhere have said that Reconstructing Amelia is the next Gone Girl. After reading both, I have to disagree because I thought Reconstructing Amelia was quite a bit better and overall, handled a little more realistically as far at the plot itself, but I still had some issues with it.

Without giving it all away, I can tell you that Kate is a type A personality. She’s a very successful lawyer, raising a teenage daughter by herself. She’s a concerned parent but routinely unavailable for Amelia even though they have their weekly movie nights at home. Amelia is a good student and is sensible for the most part, but when she is chosen to join a secret club at school, her judgement goes out the window and she ends up in quite a bit of trouble, Trouble, that she tries to handle on her own. When she is accused of plagiarism, Kate can’t believe it. Amelia would never cheat. As Kate makes her way to the school to discuss the incident, She’s more mad than anything, but when she gets there, the news she is given is even more horrible than what she imagined.

I must tell you that this book has a very Young Adult feel to it, even though it’s not being marketed to that audience. To me, books in that genre tend to take everyday acts and blow them completely out of proportion. Granted, a lot of what happens to Amelia is horrible but it’s a tad overdramatized and there were times where I just wanted to shake the girl. The same can be said of Kate. She’s the adult in this equation and yet, she had a very young feel to her. I didn’t completely buy her character and she frustrated me because she truly seems so clueless at times.

However, what I think McCreight nailed is how quickly things can get out of hand and how awful kids at that age can be to one another. The presence of social media has made bullying a 24/7 act and the unrelenting nature of that type of bullying makes it nearly impossible to escape from. I felt the desperation of these characters and how hopeless such a situation would be but it bothered me that Amelia continued to make bad choices right up until the end.

Criticism aside, it was a page turner. I read it while reading two other books and I found myself giving this book a little more attention than the others. But if you are at all annoyed by DRAMA and in that I mean teen drama, then this may not be the book for you. There is lots of drama and some language, although the language did not bother me at all. Nor did the conversations about sex which were actually pretty tame. The actions of some of the adults in the book will infuriate you so be prepared for that but overall, I felt it was an impressive debut.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

This is the view from my front door. It’s sunny, the birds are chirping away, the morning temps are nice and cool and yet when I step out to greet it, there’s no sense of adventure in my step because once again, my weekend plans got shot down.

If I could sing or even write a song, it would be one of those drippy ballads you hear on the radio. I made the mistake of listening to Barry Manilow and now I am all doom and gloom. It’s life. Things don’t work out as planned but The Teen’s summer class is wrecking this entire summer. No trips to the fair, no beach trips, there just isn’t enough time in the day to get the work done and it’s getting to all of us.

Part of my problem is my own expectation of what summer should be. In my head, it’s all BBQs and picnics and beach trips with stops at the fruit stand on the way home. It’s reading a stack of books “this high” while soaking up rays on the beach with the sounds of summer surrounding me. To me, that is summer.

Sigh.

Next summer will be better right? I sure hope so. Now, I am looking forward to fall and all the stuff that comes with it, high school football, big pots of chili simmering on the stove, the smell of roasting turkey.

Anyway, back to the present. It’s Sunday and I have no big plans.

What am I reading?

I am reading The Curiosity. Very interesting reading about reanimation, time travel, etc. I am still reading House of Leaves but I am having trouble focusing on it with all that is going on. Right now, I need books that take me to a different place so if it’s not fitting the bill, I am just putting it aside for now.

What am I cooking?

Not sure yet. I have to go to the market (exciting!) but what I really feel like doing is just going out somewhere. We are still trying to be careful with money so dinners out are rare these days. Maybe we’ll grill something.

What am I watching?

We have been watching Three’s Company. It’s such a throwback to the past but The Girl is loving it and so am I. However, I was checking out Netflix the other day and I found a Bond movie that The Girl and I have not seen yet, Never Say Never Again. Later this evening, we have a date to watch it together.

That’s my Sunday. What are you doing? Reading? Cooking?

Chatting with friends about books and life…