The Goldfinch

After falling in love with The Secret History I was eager to give this book a read. Unfortunately, it didn't quite capture me the way TSH did. While I appreciated the themes of grief, especially as they applied to my own situation, I just didn't connect with Theo. I felt as though I was floating above him the entire time, rather than experiencing the story with him.

On that note, I often felt disconnected from the plot itself. I had a hard time following along with certain chapters, mainly because I felt so many of them were unnecessary (particularly the long stretch of time in Vegas).

The book is long, very long, and I stuck with it through the end in the hopes that I'd gain some quotable nugget or profound truth. Sadly, I was left disappointed.

There was just something missing from The Goldfinch that was present in The Secret History .