Review: The Color of Water in July
Rating: 1 out of 5
Date: 07 8, 2014
The book is set in a quaint little lake community where few stay year-round and lots visit for summer vacations. The two characters central to the story, though, are Jess and Mamie. Early on, we learn that Mamie has passed away and left her estate to her grand daughter Jess. Jess and her boyfriend Russ travel to the property to tie up loose ends and sell it. When she returns, though, Jess is forced to revisit memories of her summers with Mamie at the cottage and start to question her family history.I had high hopes for this book. I loved the setting; it almost made me think of the movie Dirty Dancing. I love a good coming-of-age story. I like stories with multiple narrators. And this book has all of that. But unfortunately, it wasn't enough to save it.The story felt rushed. There were too many twists and turns in the plot for the author to fully develop on any of them in 202 pages. As a result, I felt no connection to any of the characters--including Jess, who was confronted by some life-changing events while cleaning out Mamie's home. The dialogue wasn't realistic, the story as a whole lacked emotion, and the epilogue left too many unanswered questions. Honestly, I think there was enough content to warrant a series (or at least a sequel) so that readers would have the chance to really care about this family and the lake community.The narration was atrocious. Some chapters were told from Mamie's point of view. Other chapters were written in the third person point of view ABOUT Jess--both as a 17-year-old and as a 34-year-old. Generally I'm a fan of this method because I think it makes for a well-rounded and complete telling of a story. But in this case, it was all wrong. I think I would've felt more of a connection to Jess if her chapters were told in her voice. And having Mamie (the dead woman) speak directly to readers struck me as really awkward; her chapters should've been told in the third person.The only other negative thing I can say (without giving any spoilers) is that I had an extremely hard time wrapping my head around the various relationships in this book. I probably could've if I'd cared enough to actually think it through but with no emotional connection, I really didn't care. I just wanted the story to end.On the up side, (most of) the typos mentioned in many of the other reviews must have been corrected from the earlier editions because I only caught a few errors here and there. Annoying, yes. But certainly nothing that will detract readers too much from the story. So if its editing is the only drawback from the negative reviews that's preventing you from hitting the "buy now" button for this book, then by all means...