Joyce Oates

48 Clues into the Disappearance of My Sister

         I rarely leave a negative review if I can help it.  Most of the time, if I didn’t like a book (or, GASP, I didn’t finish it because I disliked it so much), I just move on to the next one.  However, every now and then I feel compelled to let other readers know how much I disliked a book, and this is one of those times. 

            I absolutely hated the writing style.  I recall having conversations with my mom about how much she hated Stephen King’s writing style because he frequently has sentences that shouldn’t ever be called an official sentence, while I hated her favorite authors because a single sentence could potentially span three pages.  The author of this book doesn’t seem to have mastered the art of writing a sentence at all.  There are run-ons and fragments, both of which made my brain hurt (King’s fragmented sentences never seemed to bother me because his stories are so compelling, that is not the case here).  It became difficult to engage with the story when I had to spend so much of my time trying to figure out what, exactly, Oates was trying to say. 

            I’m a big ‘ol fan of mysteries and thrillers, I can usually finish those in a single sitting.  This one, however, was a struggle to get through.  I think I finished out of spite, because it certainly wasn’t due to my caring about what actually happened to the sister.  M disappeared, and her sister, “G” goes on the hunt to discover what happened.  It’s written in first person, which wouldn’t have been terrible if that person wasn’t such an unlikable character.  G is an absolutely terrible person, and everybody else in this story (with the exception of M’s sorta-boyfriend) was equally terrible.  One of the reasons I fall in love with books is because I find the story compelling and engaging, this book was neither of those things, and the hateful characters were a large reason why.

            I fully believe the cause of M’s disappearance was divulged pretty early in the book, but I’ll keep that to myself to avoid spoilers.  One of the reasons I felt like it was imperative I finish was simply to confirm my suspicions.  Then, I reached the end (FINALLY, than gawd) and wanted to hurl the book across the room (I did not, because it was a kindle book I read on my phone and I avoid throwing electronic devices across the room).  I added up all the elements in this book that I didn’t like, and I realized this one is going to go down in Kristen’s book history as one of the worst I have ever read.  This doesn’t even count the books I DNF, because I don’t think it’s fair for me to judge a book I wasn’t interested in finishing.  This one isn’t written cohesively, has detestable characters, and an abomination of an ending.  I would suggest skipping it, but maybe go ahead and read it.  I’m clearly not the end-all authority on literature, so don’t take my opinion seriously. 

Kristen Claiborn

         I rarely leave a negative review if I can help it.  Most of the time, if I didn’t like a book (or, GASP, I didn’t finish it because I disliked it so much), I just move on to the next one.  However, every now and then I feel compelled to let other readers know how much I disliked a book, and this is one of those times. 

            I absolutely hated the writing style.  I recall having conversations with my mom about how much she hated Stephen King’s writing style because he frequently has sentences that shouldn’t ever be called an official sentence, while I hated her favorite authors because a single sentence could potentially span three pages.  The author of this book doesn’t seem to have mastered the art of writing a sentence at all.  There are run-ons and fragments, both of which made my brain hurt (King’s fragmented sentences never seemed to bother me because his stories are so compelling, that is not the case here).  It became difficult to engage with the story when I had to spend so much of my time trying to figure out what, exactly, Oates was trying to say. 

            I’m a big ‘ol fan of mysteries and thrillers, I can usually finish those in a single sitting.  This one, however, was a struggle to get through.  I think I finished out of spite, because it certainly wasn’t due to my caring about what actually happened to the sister.  M disappeared, and her sister, “G” goes on the hunt to discover what happened.  It’s written in first person, which wouldn’t have been terrible if that person wasn’t such an unlikable character.  G is an absolutely terrible person, and everybody else in this story (with the exception of M’s sorta-boyfriend) was equally terrible.  One of the reasons I fall in love with books is because I find the story compelling and engaging, this book was neither of those things, and the hateful characters were a large reason why.

            I fully believe the cause of M’s disappearance was divulged pretty early in the book, but I’ll keep that to myself to avoid spoilers.  One of the reasons I felt like it was imperative I finish was simply to confirm my suspicions.  Then, I reached the end (FINALLY, than gawd) and wanted to hurl the book across the room (I did not, because it was a kindle book I read on my phone and I avoid throwing electronic devices across the room).  I added up all the elements in this book that I didn’t like, and I realized this one is going to go down in Kristen’s book history as one of the worst I have ever read.  This doesn’t even count the books I DNF, because I don’t think it’s fair for me to judge a book I wasn’t interested in finishing.  This one isn’t written cohesively, has detestable characters, and an abomination of an ending.  I would suggest skipping it, but maybe go ahead and read it.  I’m clearly not the end-all authority on literature, so don’t take my opinion seriously. 

48 Clues into the Disappearance of My Sister

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