Strangely, while I was reading it, I didn't feel OMG I CANNOT PUT THIS DOWN!! but every time I thought that maybe I should, I just ... didn't. And when I finished, I assumed it was 11 PM, but it was only 9:45. :D
I can see why the two-star reviewer felt distanced from you-as-child, but ... if you depicted yourself as a child that was easy to warm up to, as they wanted, (a) you would have been a Tormented species of Mary Sue and (b) it wouldn't have been truthful - it certianly read to me as a useful protective strategy. Had I been in the same situation, I'd probably have done much the same, judging by the things I *did* do in response to (much, much lighter) ostracism, teasing, and bullying as a kid.
And the Booklist review where they said the flash-forwards disrupted the flow of the book? Allowed for breathing space, otherwise I'd be all OMG TOO MUCH ABUSE. Maybe it would have been faster-paced overall, but even the humor wouldn't have been able to stop me putting the book down, because it would have been overwhelming.
You wanna know what the weirdest bit when reading the book was? Normally as I read, I'm sort of having two stories at the same time - the one I'm reading, and then the one that's being absorbed into the stories already in my head - images or characters or scenes will be taken out and replayed with one of the characters in my head either replacing or assisting the protagonist of the book. I couldn't do that with this one, because I know you - it felt really bizarre to appropriate the life of someone I know. I feel a little bit like this with The Winter Prince, because my knowing eegatland (for internet values of "know") means that I'm a bit more aware of how it's her story, and I can't appropriate the characters and put them into the stories in my head (which are mostly an amalgam of whatever books and manga and movies and anime I've read in the past few years anyway) without feeling a little odd.
But I couldn't do that at all with Fishes. It's just ... too weird. XD
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I can see why the two-star reviewer felt distanced from you-as-child, but ... if you depicted yourself as a child that was easy to warm up to, as they wanted, (a) you would have been a Tormented species of Mary Sue and (b) it wouldn't have been truthful - it certianly read to me as a useful protective strategy. Had I been in the same situation, I'd probably have done much the same, judging by the things I *did* do in response to (much, much lighter) ostracism, teasing, and bullying as a kid.
And the Booklist review where they said the flash-forwards disrupted the flow of the book? Allowed for breathing space, otherwise I'd be all OMG TOO MUCH ABUSE. Maybe it would have been faster-paced overall, but even the humor wouldn't have been able to stop me putting the book down, because it would have been overwhelming.
You wanna know what the weirdest bit when reading the book was? Normally as I read, I'm sort of having two stories at the same time - the one I'm reading, and then the one that's being absorbed into the stories already in my head - images or characters or scenes will be taken out and replayed with one of the characters in my head either replacing or assisting the protagonist of the book. I couldn't do that with this one, because I know you - it felt really bizarre to appropriate the life of someone I know. I feel a little bit like this with The Winter Prince, because my knowing
But I couldn't do that at all with Fishes. It's just ... too weird. XD