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Reviews by Aprile G. (Northampton, Massachusetts)

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The Land of Decoration
The Land of Decoration: A Novel
by Grace McCleen
Suspending disbelief (3/28/2012)
I really wanted to like The Land of Decoration, but in the end, I felt that it really required too much faith on the part of the reader for the story to hold together.
Arcadia
Arcadia: A Novel
by Lauren Groff
A mesmerizing trip (11/28/2011)
This book really grabbed and held me; it is deeply involving and lyrically written. Told by a single character over four stages of life (childhood, adolescence, maturity, and old age), this is an absorbing tale filled with memorable characters. The story charts the rise, …more
The Most Dangerous Thing
The Most Dangerous Thing
by Laura Lippman
There are many sides to every story (7/30/2011)
a fast enjoyable read, The Most Dangerous things sweeps the reader along from the first chapter. Told by many different narrators, I particularly liked hearing each different voice--and all of the rationalizations and inner narratives really helped flesh out the characters. …more
Outlander
Outlander
by Diana Gabaldon
An engaging & well-written romance (3/20/2011)
Outlander is an engaging and well-written historical romance filled with vivid battle and sex scenes. Despite it's strengths, however, it is too long, sags in spots, and could easily have been trimmed by several hundreds of pages. I did enjoy the book, but it took me …more
The Devotion of Suspect X
The Devotion of Suspect X
by Keigo Higashino
Lost in Translation (12/10/2010)
A very quick and engaging read, although the characters aren't very nuanced (not that they really need to be in a murder mystery)and the final chapter falls completely flat and undermines some of the book's good qualities. But the prose often seems stilted--could this be a …more
The Lost and Forgotten Languages of Shanghai
The Lost and Forgotten Languages of Shanghai: A Novel
by Ruiyan Xu
The Loss of Language (10/2/2010)
"The Lost and Forgotten Languages of Shanghai" is a lyrical, haunting, and engrossing book about how language and culture, and the understandings and misunderstandings that they engender, both tie people together and break them apart.

When the central character, Li Jing, …more
The Postmistress
The Postmistress
by Sarah Blake
Promise unfulfilled (8/31/2010)
The Postmistress started with promise--the first chapter crackled with sharply described characters and situations, and set up the expectation of an engaging story. Unfortunately, this made the book's sloppy descent, with predictable turns, murky motivations, and …more
The Stuff That Never Happened
The Stuff That Never Happened
by Maddie Dawson
The Stuff That Never Happened (8/15/2010)
'The Stuff That Never Happened' turned out to be a much better book than I initially thought it would be. The first few chapters were unpromising; the characters seemed one-dimensional and thinly written, but luckily it turned a corner, and developed into an engaging read. …more
I Curse the River of Time
I Curse the River of Time
by Per Petterson
Haunting and engrossing (8/15/2010)
I have no idea how Per Petterson crams so much lyrical emotion into his short books; but it's nothing short of miraculous. I felt that I instantly knew his characters from their first words--somehow all the longing and self-deception is crystal clear, embedded in long, flat …more
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