Ape House by Sara Gruen: Grade B+
I love Sara Gruen. In a world of mediocre authors who have no sense of the English language she does an excellent job of spinning an interesting and unique tale that is simply unputdownable. I read Water for Elephants a few months ago and was completely blown away, and this addition to Gruen’s repertoire was no exception. Normally I completely stay away from animal centered fiction (and I am still shying away from Gruen’s horse racing series), but for some reason this book really struck a chord with me. All that said, there were parts of the book that bothered me. Most notably was the character of Amanda--the wife of one of the main characters, John. I could never tell if Gruen truly wanted us to sympathize with Amanda or if she was leading up to her complete downfall so that John would leave her for the other main character, Isabel. I won’t reveal which direction she did end up taking, but it was confusing nonetheless. Normally I complain about predictability in fiction, but I think it is important to at least be able to know the characters themselves and how they might react to various situations.
Recommendation: Definitely worth a try!
Up Next: Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard
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