Review: Fascinating & Compelling
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 24, 2014
The author has an unusual style of writing that both invites us inside the head of her character and at the same time holds us at a distance. It reeled me in. Elaine, the main character, is a clinically depressed young adult and she's trying hard not to feel her emotions. However, they come popping out in ways that she cannot grasp or understand. She's been dumped, her mother abandons her for a second chance at love, and friends disappoint her. She's running around Manhattan with her cat Sam and she's no longer in control. Elaine's injured, homeless and without many resources after she's been mugged. We're inside the mind of a woman with an external locus of control. Other people shift her this way and that and she feels a strong sense of anomie. The story has a bit of romance to it but what fascinated me was the in-depth look at Elaine's emotional life along with the descriptive literary style used by Ms. Kittle. I'm giving it four stars because of the distracting formatting issues. Nonetheless, it's quite a journey.