Her Fearful Symmetry
Ratings90
Average rating3.2
I loved this book until the end. It built and built and built and then just ended. I wanted more, I guess. That's the only reason I give it 4 stars. Otherwise, I love love love Audrey Niffenegger. Her style is sort of old school to me and makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.
An utterly bonkers hot mess of a book. Lies, deception, reanimation, OCD, ouija boards, its all here. There are several WTF moments at the end of the book which are so “out there” i just dont have the words to explain . Yes there are ghosts but its definitely, one million percent NOT a horror story or ghost story, it just has ghosts in it. I gave it a three because i loved the story of Martin & Marijke and it's the supporting cast of the book that steal the show here.
This book moves so slowly and I got through it so quickly that I didn't realize until halfway through that I wasn't enjoying it. By which point I figured I may as well finish it. It didn't get better. The story is told mostly in strange, short vignettes and moves along at a snail's pace, and none of the characters are particularly engaging - some of them are downright creepy, in a gross but still somehow really boring way. The whole book is kindof just, “eh.”
This book is really good. Very suspenseful with a good twist at the end, but not the very end. It also leaves you hanging wanting a bit more.
reviews.metaphorosis.com
3 stars
One of a pair of identical twin sisters dies, leaving her London flat to her nieces and her private papers to her lover. As one of the conditions of the will, the nieces, also inseparable identical twins, come to live in the flat, next to Highgate Cemetery.* As they get involved with the other tenants, they also find their separate selves, with difficult consequences.
I admit to having been somewhat sceptical of The Time Traveler's Wife at first; “popular” fiction doesn't seem to match my taste. But I tried it and liked it. So, when I saw Her Fearful Symmetry on sale, I picked that up too.
Niffenegger starts off confidently, but I wasn't really drawn into the story, and that didn't really change throughout. It didn't help that two of the key plot twists, formally revealed toward the end of the book, were evident from the very start, leaving relatively little suspense in book meant to be suspenseful.
What saves the book is the characterization. The key characters are largely full, interesting, and carefully drawn. Martin, from the upstairs flat, is perhaps the strongest and best of the lot. Strangely, the twins themselves, while they start well, and are meant to grow stronger, do the reverse; they become less and less interesting and distinct as time goes on.
While the characters are generally strong, there are several key points where they simply act out of character, or shift character for no good reason. It feels as if Niffenegger simply ran out of interest or energy, perhaps deciding to move on and fill in later - but never doing so. Since the characters are the heart of the story, it's a substantial weakness.
The ending regains a little ground, but in this case, there's an expected twist that doesn't happen. That lack, and the lack of an explanation for it, weakens the story again.
All in all, a pleasant, unobjectionable story with some interesting points, but not really outstanding.
* Only thanks to Wikipedia did I note the clever rhyme of symmetry and cemetery, but I like it.
Lovely, charming, sad. A little more subdued than [b:The Time Traveler's Wife 14050 The Time Traveler's Wife Audrey Niffenegger http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1274656075s/14050.jpg 2153746], but just as involving. I feel I won't want to read it again, but can't exactly express why. Maybe just because of the killing of the kitten and Valentina faking her own death, which were both triggery for me, in different ways. Maybe just because it makes me sad that nothing comes out quite right in the end.A bit amused I happened to read this on the heels of [b:Never Let Me Go 6334 Never Let Me Go Kazuo Ishiguro http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165592008s/6334.jpg 1499998]. Apparently I am on a “regretful sad stories where people are kind of jerks to each other, that take place in present-day England but with some magical realism” kick.
I LOVED THE TIME TRAVELLER'S WIFE.
This wasn't nearly as good, and a whole lot weirder. I loved the end, though, but the whole time I was reading the book, I had this sense of...anticlimax. Maybe I was subconsciously comparing it to The Time Traveller's Wife, and it just wasn't measuring up. This book was awful and weird and Niffenegger overload. I mean, even The Time Traveller's Wife was slightly...overkill. So...two stars is all I can manage for this one. Definitely a disappointment.
I'm not sure how I should rate this book. I was pleasantly surprised that this book was as good as it was, my expectations were VERY low. I actually think this book was better than The Time Traveler's Wife. However, I really didn't understand where the characters were coming from. I couldn't imagine being that self absorbed.
Very odd but still enticing book. I didn't like it as much as I liked Time Traveler's Wife, but it was still good. One really good twist and a couple of smaller ones. Full review on my blog http://bookwi.se/her-fearful-symmetry-a-novel/
A gorgeous and moving piece centered on what truly makes one oneself and how much of personality is bound up in our relationships with others. Every twist of the ending was telegraphed from the beginning, but despite that (or perhaps because of it) each piece is still extremely poignant. If this book has a draw back it is that Niffenegger still has a somewhat heavy hand with the English language. Long passages in Portuguese are written in full and then occasionally translated below (a gimmick which smacks of arrogance), thoughts are typed haphazardly in italics and some sentences simply fall flat.
Overall, an extraordinary second novel.
This book was bound to suffer from high expectations. I almost gave it 2 stars but figured it was not fair. It was very well written and Niffenegger again very genuinely captures the intensity of very close relationships. The characters and their predicaments will probably stay with me for a long time. (need to finish this review later).
A very good book that pales in comparison to its older sibling, The Time Traveler's Wife.