One Bear's Opinion -- Book Review

The Woman Who Died a Lot by Jasper Fforde

It has been a while since I have been here, and in truth, a while since I have finished a book.  I spent a month on vacation visiting my old home in the US and between the running around, holiday adventures, seeing family, and other exciting adventures along the way, I was really too busy and when I got a chance to sit down and rest for a moment, I ended up falling asleep before I'd read even a full page of my book.

One of those adventures was shopping for new books.  In all honestly, several adventures were shopping for new books. I came back with 19 new books, and found 2 more at a reading/book signing when I got back to Australia -- it was a very good holiday season book wise.  I have tons of new stuff to dive into in the coming days/weeks.

But back to the first book read in 2013 -- The Woman Who Died a Lot.  I wanted to like this book, I really did.  I love Thursday Next as a character and I really enjoy all her adventures, especially those in Book World.  Based on the ideas in his books, I would love to have a meal with Mr. Fforde just to see if he is as interesting as his characters and worlds make him seem.  One of my housemates has seen him read from his current books once or twice and assures me he is, but I would enjoy the opportunity to find out for myself.

As I said, I wanted to like this book.  I like Thursday and the characters that fill her life, and all of them were in this book in the requisite quantities, though there is never enough Stig for my taste.  But even with all of the right elements, this book was a disappointment.  It seems that this book was several plots cobbled together and hastily bound with sticky tape and a prayer to the GSD.  There was a thin thread holding the plots together, but it was easy to pick and pull apart; and having picked that thread, the overall story fell apart at the seams.  Thursday was not herself, even allowing for the fact that she has aged.  The familiar supporting characters were weak and wallpaper-y.  Even the villains were merely actors playing a role for the day.  There was just something lacking in the adventure, and having finished the book, left the reader feeling cheated out of a visit with a good friend.  It was as though the visit was disjointed and forced, and your former very good friend was distracted by things that have nothing to do with you and wanting to rush off to a more important meeting.

I really do like Thursday Next, but would have to recommend that new-to-the-series readers stay away from this book until they have completed the rest of the series, and even then, possibly until the eighth book in the series comes out.  If you have never met Thursday Next, do not make this your initial introduction.

One Bear's Opinion:  One Cup of Room Temperature Cocoa Made from a Powder

Happy Reading Everyone, 

Oliver