Diary

Rating:
Summary: left speechless but unable to shutup about it
Review: I had a lot of trouble deciding how many stars to give this novel. i kept fluctuating between 2 and 4 (i know its not just a 3 however).

I guess my conflict arose from the fact that this novel was so unexpected for me.

I didn't read any reviews, didnt read a single synoposis, didnt really have any clue what this novel was about before I put it on my Christmas list. All i knew was that i really enjoyed Choke and was a big fan of Fight Club as well. I find Palahniuk refreshing and interesting.

That said, I have to share why i really struggled over giving this book 4 stars. (i will not give away the entire plot in this review, i HATE when people do that)

overall, i really like Palahniuk's writing style. Someone in a previous review said they hated his repitition ("the weather today is" and "just for the record" etc.) I personally really enjoy when he does that, it keeps the flow of the novel continuing.

I also really love the quirky approach that he takes to situations, i love the information about handwriting analysis, really enjoyed the references to art and its ties to suffering. I just love the way Palahniuk is able to bring in real-life factoids and bizarre little thoughts into his novels.

My problem lies in the fact that the plot freaked me out -- A LOT. like i said, i didnt know anything about the book but that was my own fault and so i cant complain. but it's true -- the story REALLY freaked me out.

I also felt that some things weren't explained as clearly as they could've been...or really, that there were some difinitive logic problems with the plot-line [skip ahead if you haven't read it yet, im going to discuss some plot-specific issues about this story] the subjects lacking in total logic were as follows: 1. the way her daughter in general had no real loyalty to her own mother 2. the strange decision for them to pretend that her father-in-law was dead yet they all lived on such a small island (you would think that Misty would've seen him at one point) 3. the fact that they all decided to commit suicide at the end like that...as if there was no other way to restore the money 4. how obvious it was that they were poisoning her yet the way she just didn't seem to notice and/or care 5. the fact that two other famous artists had lived on the same island and Misty a self-proclaimed art student had never bothered to find out any information about them and lastly, my biggest logic problem was the fact that neither of the two famous women artists before her knew about their situation until it was too late -- yet there are all of those notes written all over the island by them warning the future *generations* (trying not to give too much away there)?

These were the reasons why i considered giving it a lesser star rating.

I went with 4 stars however because no matter what logic issues i might have, this book has been on my mind ever since i put it down. I could't stop talking about it the day after i finished reading it. I am so impressed with the premise and the execution that i really think that it deserves the higher star rating.

i may be freaked out by its content overall but the impact it has had on me just shows what a good book it really is. I would reccomend it to someone who wants something completely different than anything else they've ever really experienced.

Rating:
Summary: horrible..
Review: I really like the cover, with all those red roses but I felt horrible reading it! I don't think I will ever read anything similar. What a horrible story! I am not sure if this is the style of such stories, but it is so unbelieveable to the degree that you think the characters are either not mature or devils.

It is like a science fiction plus horror movie, you can certainly predict the outcome though it is dull and pretentious. Some messages appear commenting on one kind of rich people's lives, but I don't think they belong to our century. You think with all the civilization and the development in science and computers, people are skeptical and challenging, but this story shows that human are so naive to look for answers and defend what they own, even to be responsible for their own children!


I would have enjoyed it more if it was the story of a poor girl married to a rich guy who suddenly goes into a coma and then the wife finds herself alone raising her daughter and protecting her from her evil grandparents. This is just the simple version of the story without the additional features where she unveils the truth about her marriage and that island!



Rating:
Summary: It's getting old
Review: I'm going to keep this brief and just put down the most important things that I feel made this book a total clunker.

1.) The little repetition thing was kind of cute and quirky the first time you read a Palahniuk book. By now, it's just become ridiculous. It takes an almost superhuman effort not to roll your eyes each time you see "Just for the record" and "The weather today is..." The weather today is hackneyed with a strong chance of pretentions drivel.

2.) The book's protagonist is either a total moron, or Pahlaniuk forgot he was writing this book from her point of view. Misty seems to hear all of these important details that would, in any real human being, arouse suspicion. We know that she hears these details because she records them in her diary, that is, the novel itself. But she rarely, if ever, seems to ponder what she's heard or how strange the townspeople seem to be acting.

She's also quite whiney, with sentence after sentence of "Poor me." I wasn't expecting overblown heroic qualities in a Palahniuk protagonist, but honestly, I was hoping she would hurry up and die or stop writing in her diary. Either one would do.

4.) This is the last one and it's kind of a spoiler in some ways, but not too much of one. You might think that the last page of the book offers an interesting twist to the story, right? Nah. You know what it really does? It gives Palahniuk a tongue-in-cheek way of suggesting that anyone who criticizes this book is evil. Because of course, we WANT this book to be read by as many people as possible, right? It's only the right thing to do. So to reveal it for what it is must mean that you're one of the bad people trying to... Well, you know if you've read the book.

Skip this one. Read Survivor or Fight Club.