I can sum this book up for you in two words: mistakes and deceit. And honestly, it is never a good thing if two keywords can make up for the entire book. Yet, that is all it is, lots of mistakes and misunderstandings coming together to form an annoying plot, which completely bored me. There is also a storyline of someone pretending to be someone he isn't, but come on! If I turn on the tv I can see that same idea unfolding on every film channel! Luckily for Carry Slee, something is wrong with my satellite receiver, so I'll spend Christmas with books, rather than movies.
I initially gave it two stars, but now that I read all that I have written above, I honestly don't think its deserving of that rating at all. I don't think that the book is 'okay', I truthfully just didn't like it. The main characters are students in college and they do everything clicheed that students are presumed to do: getting pregnant, smoking weed, spending money on the wrong things. Hell, I am a university student too, but I just work and go to my classes! And in my free time I read books!
I find the title very misleading. I think this might be what is attracting readers as well as the author's name. I can't write too much about it without spoiling a lot, so instead I'll just leave it by saying that it's not an accurate title.
The books language is very simple. I finishes this book in a couple of hours' time because it reads very easy. I think Slee was trying to captivate the mind of young adult with this way of writing, but to me it seemed more like an effort to sound popular and trying to fit in. But really, everyone in the book was calling everyone 'darling' and that is just not how life works! Some people say 'darling', others say 'love', some other people say 'Zooey'...
There are also some non-functional sex scenes in the book. In the beginning, there are three or four and then the rest of the book everyone suddenly seems celibate. Anyway, since sex is such an important part of modern culture, I understand that it will reflect on books as well. Yet, these one didn't serve any purpose at all, so it just puts me off.
But lets end this review with a small shining light. This book could have been amazing. It would have had all the potential if she the writer had just separated the themes instead of blending them all together in less than 300 pages. If these ideas were pulled apart, it would have been a very realistic novel. Now, not so much...
It's such a shame, because I really liked Carry Slee's work before. I enjoyed her child fiction when I was a kid and her adult novels as I grew up. Today, I think 'Dochter van Eva' is one of the best books I have ever read. I hope Slee gets some of her muse back very quickly, because as much as this book was about mistakes, the book itself was one too.
~ZooeyIding