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Strange Toys
Winner of the Philip K. Dick Award, Strange Toys is a stunningly original and penetrating novel blending the real and unreal, the fantastic and the mundane, in a story of love, power, and the occult that carries one young woman on a difficult and dangerous journey.
Pet is her name. At nine, she is struggling to protect her family from the horrors predicted in her strange older sister's book of secrets horrors that indeed come true. At sixteen, Pet is hunting down her older sister to wreak vengeance or something else. At thirty, Pet attains strength and power enough to protect her from the present but not from her sister's raging past.
With humor, insight, compassion, and unrelenting suspense, Patricia Geary's Strange Toys takes the reader on parallel tours into the world of the supernatural and into the life of a young woman struggling to make peace with the known and unknown.
Pet is her name. At nine, she is struggling to protect her family from the horrors predicted in her strange older sister's book of secrets horrors that indeed come true. At sixteen, Pet is hunting down her older sister to wreak vengeance or something else. At thirty, Pet attains strength and power enough to protect her from the present but not from her sister's raging past.
With humor, insight, compassion, and unrelenting suspense, Patricia Geary's Strange Toys takes the reader on parallel tours into the world of the supernatural and into the life of a young woman struggling to make peace with the known and unknown.
248 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 1, 1987
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
October 14, 2024
(1987 Bantam Spectra mass-market with Leo and Diane Dillon art, 248 pages)
Strange Toys, Patricia Geary's brilliant but slightly flawed sophomore novel, follows narrator Pet through three critical times in her life, times when inexplicable supernatural events encroach into her reality. The first section, and by far the most captivating for me, details a cross-country road trip with her proto-hippie parents and her bossy, slightly older sister at age 8 during the late '50s, complete with memorable stops at various weird and rundown roadside attractions. They're basically on the run due to Pet's missing, voodoo-obsessed oldest sister having gotten into some vague trouble that puts the family's lives in danger. Before having left on this trip -- which leads to New Orleans (aka voodootown)-- Pet had found her oldest sister's diary, which contains a number of magic spells, as well as ominous drawings depicting what seems to be future catastrophic events for herself and her family, and she must try to use this information to her advantage somehow. After this 100-plus page portion, the novel then catches up with Pet as a teen, then an adult.
Pet is a wonderfully eccentric character and has a quirky way of narrating the events, especially as a child, reminiscent of Merricat Blackwood from Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle. She has a uniquely magical worldview and peculiar habits, such as lining the inside of her coat with her favorite poodle dolls as a sort of armor/protection from evil, or making sure she thinks her thoughts and prayers in all the religions of the world, in order to make sure the correct god is listening. This first segment, which takes up just less than half the novel, was as absorbing a reading experience I've had, so much so that the second half, while still quite good, had no chance of living up to it. If the first part were a novella, it would have been up there with the best I'd ever read.
The strange, seemingly supernatural occurrences are handled nicely, and the reader is never really sure whether they are actually happening, or are only in Pet's mind. The real star of the show, however, is Pet herself. Her writing style is totally engaging, and the reader is right there with her during her fantastic and sometimes frightening adventures. But some of the uniqueness and charm of her personality is lost somewhat during the latter chapters following her as an adult, imo.
Still, anybody looking for a bizarre little coming of age story, complete with loads of indelibly odd characters and locations (and subtly effective invasions of unreality), would do well to check out Strange Toys.
4.5 Stars
March 16, 2026
One of those weird books that I'm hesitant to review because of the nagging feeling that maybe I'm just too thick to get it and I'm about to embarrass myself by publicly exposing my stupidity.
The prose was excellent, and nine-year old Pet in the first act was a faithful depiction of that strange mix of insight and ignorance that children have. But once things took off into voodoo I didn't follow any of it. All the conversation seemed to be an exchange of non sequiturs, and most of it was the sort of stuff that sounds deep but is actually meaningless. But who knows? Perhaps I was just too shallow to perceive it?
The prose was excellent, and nine-year old Pet in the first act was a faithful depiction of that strange mix of insight and ignorance that children have. But once things took off into voodoo I didn't follow any of it. All the conversation seemed to be an exchange of non sequiturs, and most of it was the sort of stuff that sounds deep but is actually meaningless. But who knows? Perhaps I was just too shallow to perceive it?
May 18, 2010
This started brilliantly. I was instantly swept into Pet’s world, her grotesquely vile older sisters, the oddness of the sudden flight from the family home and subsequent strange, fated journey, but what on earth happened in the third part of the book? I’ve read it twice now and I still don’t know.
There’s rather a lot I didn’t really get and I’m left wondering if it was just me, am I a bit thick, missing Big Flashing Pointy-Hands of metaphor and reference. Was there a point to the dead kitten, or to the talismanic poodle-toys – or was it just a pile of red herrings all along?
I thought I was reading an enjoyable fantasy but the third part threw me for a loop, so wildly different in style and carrying nothing that even resembled a continuation of the previous plot, I can’t help but feel I’m missing something terribly profound.
Or maybe I am just a bit thick.
I enjoyed the writing hugely, loved part one, liked part two, you should read it for that at least – in fact, please do read it, then maybe you can tell me what it was really all about.
There’s rather a lot I didn’t really get and I’m left wondering if it was just me, am I a bit thick, missing Big Flashing Pointy-Hands of metaphor and reference. Was there a point to the dead kitten, or to the talismanic poodle-toys – or was it just a pile of red herrings all along?
I thought I was reading an enjoyable fantasy but the third part threw me for a loop, so wildly different in style and carrying nothing that even resembled a continuation of the previous plot, I can’t help but feel I’m missing something terribly profound.
Or maybe I am just a bit thick.
I enjoyed the writing hugely, loved part one, liked part two, you should read it for that at least – in fact, please do read it, then maybe you can tell me what it was really all about.
March 27, 2023
Got this at the library for two bits. Looks to be a bit Bone Clocksy.
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So amazing. So amazing.
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An invigorating story about a woman's growth from tragical but magical childhood to independent and strong adulthood - this book is, sadly, hard to find (I found mine in a bargain bin at the library).
The novel has a bad-ass backstory, too:
Patricia Geary never meant to be a science fiction writer. But when her editor at Bantam Books got into a personal dispute with the head of the department, she suddenly became one.
After a strange night at the Bantam offices (the details of which are unclear, but began with alcohol and arguing and ended up with the department head locked in a closet)... Source: http://brooklynrail.org/2004/01/books...
Strange Toys definitely paved the way for mainstream fantasy authors Neil Gaiman and Karen Russell.
*Philip K. Dick award winner 1987
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So amazing. So amazing.
---
An invigorating story about a woman's growth from tragical but magical childhood to independent and strong adulthood - this book is, sadly, hard to find (I found mine in a bargain bin at the library).
The novel has a bad-ass backstory, too:
Patricia Geary never meant to be a science fiction writer. But when her editor at Bantam Books got into a personal dispute with the head of the department, she suddenly became one.
After a strange night at the Bantam offices (the details of which are unclear, but began with alcohol and arguing and ended up with the department head locked in a closet)... Source: http://brooklynrail.org/2004/01/books...
Strange Toys definitely paved the way for mainstream fantasy authors Neil Gaiman and Karen Russell.
*Philip K. Dick award winner 1987
August 19, 2019
Strange Toys is an odd, creepy novel. It won the Philip K. Dick Award in 1987, though apparently Patricia Geary hadn’t actually intended it as science fiction at all. I found it while exploring the labyrinthine basement of a local used bookstore, but it was reprinted in electronic form in 2018.
See more at Fantasy Literature.
See more at Fantasy Literature.
May 31, 2014
The book was well written and had excellent sensory details and realistic characters...it just didn't really have a satisfactory conclusion or much of a conclusion at all....
October 21, 2022
Pet is the youngest of Linwood and Stan’s daughters. Their oldest Deane, has had a troubled past and has disappeared after implicating an ex-boyfriend in a violent crime. One night Pet discovers a small red book which seems to contain magic spells or something and she takes it, but not before Tommy, Deane’s ex, molests her and threatens her and her family’s lives. When Linwood and Stan get a death threat they pack some things and head on a road trip until things cool down. For Pet the trip is part adventure and part nightmare, with her invocation of a spell summoning a strange man called Sammy, who wants the spell book and is willing to trade some powerful wards for it. While in New Orleans Pet buys a juju necklace that protects her but a tragedy befalls her family. Years later, as a teenager, Pet feels the urge to revisit her past and travel a dangerous road, filled with voodoo, Native Indian spirit magic, and weightlifting zen. Patricia Geary has constructed a wonderfully ethereal piece of magic realism combined with a weird coming-of-age tale, to produce a satisfyingly mystical reading experience.
April 13, 2024
This is a magical realist book. It's conventional with books from this genre to leave the reader unsure if anything magical happened or if the magic is just in the protagonist's head, and Strange Toys takes this to an extreme. For most of the book I had little idea what was going on and the ending left me none the wiser.
With books like this it's tempting to feel that the author is being deep and mysterious, and there would be wonderful secrets revealed if only we read it more carefully. Alternatively the author may just be having fun and there are no deep meanings to be excavated. I suspect the latter is the case here, and the book should just be read as an entertaining traipse through a series of bewildering but interesting events.
This book isn't going to be for everyone as it doesn't have conventional beginning, ending, or indeed a convention plot in between. Even so I found it an entertaining book, though one I had to work at to finish. I found Pet an interesting character and I thought Geary did a convincing job or writing the world as seen by a nine year old girl. If you're up for a bit of a challenge I'd say give this a go. If you want a conventional story run away now.
With books like this it's tempting to feel that the author is being deep and mysterious, and there would be wonderful secrets revealed if only we read it more carefully. Alternatively the author may just be having fun and there are no deep meanings to be excavated. I suspect the latter is the case here, and the book should just be read as an entertaining traipse through a series of bewildering but interesting events.
This book isn't going to be for everyone as it doesn't have conventional beginning, ending, or indeed a convention plot in between. Even so I found it an entertaining book, though one I had to work at to finish. I found Pet an interesting character and I thought Geary did a convincing job or writing the world as seen by a nine year old girl. If you're up for a bit of a challenge I'd say give this a go. If you want a conventional story run away now.
November 2, 2025
Pet's family is falling apart and she strikes a magical deal to protect herself, but at a terrible cost.
A very disturbing description of a terrifying childhood, which treats imagination as something which is equally as dangerous as voodoo. As Pet travels across the country, her experiences don't just change her, they change the world around her.
Or perhaps they don't. Perhaps Geary's plan is that Pet's worldview changes as she grows and matures so that which was incomprehensible to a nine year old girl becomes clearer to a young woman and changes as she enters her thirties.
Is this real life, or is this just fantasy?
A very disturbing description of a terrifying childhood, which treats imagination as something which is equally as dangerous as voodoo. As Pet travels across the country, her experiences don't just change her, they change the world around her.
Or perhaps they don't. Perhaps Geary's plan is that Pet's worldview changes as she grows and matures so that which was incomprehensible to a nine year old girl becomes clearer to a young woman and changes as she enters her thirties.
Is this real life, or is this just fantasy?
June 28, 2023
honestly, 3.5, BUT ONLY. for the first section. the second section is like a 1.5 and the last section is probably a 2. the first is easily a 4, and the best part of the book.
i have a lot of thoughts on this one honestly! i feel like geary really does pull off the different ages pet is at as her story progresses, and maybe that's why the teenage pet was so hard for me to read (annoying, haha). but honestly i feel like a lot of the wonder disappeared after the nine year old pet was no longer telling the story? everything was very focused on sex and men in the second and third parts, which took away from the magic for me.
i also feel like it lost some of the strange sense of "logic" as it progressed. even when impossible things were happening to pet at nine, it made sense in the way that superstition makes sense, or weird things kids do to feel safe make sense. but i felt so let down by things like "the nineteen layers of the soul". why focus a whole chapter on them and then barely mention them again? i think there were way too many loose ends in the second and especially third parts. nothing felt meaningful anymore. the last part was at least more interesting than teenage pet but like, not worth that much of the book.
i have a lot of thoughts on this one honestly! i feel like geary really does pull off the different ages pet is at as her story progresses, and maybe that's why the teenage pet was so hard for me to read (annoying, haha). but honestly i feel like a lot of the wonder disappeared after the nine year old pet was no longer telling the story? everything was very focused on sex and men in the second and third parts, which took away from the magic for me.
i also feel like it lost some of the strange sense of "logic" as it progressed. even when impossible things were happening to pet at nine, it made sense in the way that superstition makes sense, or weird things kids do to feel safe make sense. but i felt so let down by things like "the nineteen layers of the soul". why focus a whole chapter on them and then barely mention them again? i think there were way too many loose ends in the second and especially third parts. nothing felt meaningful anymore. the last part was at least more interesting than teenage pet but like, not worth that much of the book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 18, 2010
If it had not been for the superb narrative, it would have received 2 stars. I cannot fathom how this won the Philip K Dick award. It shows no signs of Dick's morality or even his creativity. This book feels incomplete- as I the editor threw out 200 pages wherever they wished. Part 1 is overly long and the other 2 parts are not complete in any sense. It fails to explain itself on many levels. Severely disppointing because the writing was phenomenal.
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December 16, 2025Echoes in the Net: Early influences Bruce Sterling’s world building Sparked My Imagination for Shadows of Consensus
As a longtime cyberpunk and sci-fi aficionado, I’ve always chased books that feel like they predicted tomorrow. The early cyber punk was grand. Jeter, Cadigan, Gibson, Shirley. Common threads of failed nation states, information as currency, AI and VR. The world building beated as one heart across authors.
Bruce Sterling’s Islands in the Net is a perfect example for this era. It nailed a post-national world where corporations and data networks hold more sway than governments, and rogue data havens operate as pirate enclaves beyond the grid.
While writing Shadows of Consensus, certain images from Sterling’s novel quietly lingered in my thoughts. They didn’t dictate my story, but they motivated me to explore similar territory in my own way. Those visions of a faded nation-state era and fragile global networks pushed me to build Universe 164. The Consensus runs a mafia-style empire over privatized justice, prison insurance tiers, and a trillion-dollar blockchain black market.
The idea of a single breach unraveling an entire system stuck with me too. In Sterling’s book, disruptions in the Net send shockwaves worldwide. That tension inspired the core crisis in my novel. An unknown hack floods elite Chair positions with common criminals. It ignites factional chaos and pulls Stella Kane and Nick Torres into a spiral of heists, betrayals, and rebellion.
Sterling’s portrayal of information as the ultimate currency also resonated. Information can be both liberating and oppressive. It motivated me to create New Pax’s grotesque systems. VerdictStream trials become ad-driven spectacles. Justice turns commodified for the highest bidder. From those subtle sparks, I developed my own original machinery of control and the tools characters use to fight back. Nano-tattoos and evolving AIs grew from that foundation.
At its heart, both stories feature ordinary people thrust into vast, rigged networks. Laura Webster’s journey in Islands in the Net echoed in my mind as I shaped Stella the imprisoned hacker and Nick the blackmailed soldier. Their defiance grew from my own ideas. Sterling’s images gave that initial nudge.
Islands in the Net remains a masterpiece of the genre. It grows more relevant than ever. It added quiet inspiration to my tale of hackers, fixers, and shattered consensus. If you love cyberpunk, it’s essential reading. I hope Shadows of Consensus carries a bit of that same electric charge.
Thanks for joining me in New Pax.
—David Bearclaw Author of Shadows of Consensus
As a longtime cyberpunk and sci-fi aficionado, I’ve always chased books that feel like they predicted tomorrow. The early cyber punk was grand. Jeter, Cadigan, Gibson, Shirley. Common threads of failed nation states, information as currency, AI and VR. The world building beated as one heart across authors.
Bruce Sterling’s Islands in the Net is a perfect example for this era. It nailed a post-national world where corporations and data networks hold more sway than governments, and rogue data havens operate as pirate enclaves beyond the grid.
While writing Shadows of Consensus, certain images from Sterling’s novel quietly lingered in my thoughts. They didn’t dictate my story, but they motivated me to explore similar territory in my own way. Those visions of a faded nation-state era and fragile global networks pushed me to build Universe 164. The Consensus runs a mafia-style empire over privatized justice, prison insurance tiers, and a trillion-dollar blockchain black market.
The idea of a single breach unraveling an entire system stuck with me too. In Sterling’s book, disruptions in the Net send shockwaves worldwide. That tension inspired the core crisis in my novel. An unknown hack floods elite Chair positions with common criminals. It ignites factional chaos and pulls Stella Kane and Nick Torres into a spiral of heists, betrayals, and rebellion.
Sterling’s portrayal of information as the ultimate currency also resonated. Information can be both liberating and oppressive. It motivated me to create New Pax’s grotesque systems. VerdictStream trials become ad-driven spectacles. Justice turns commodified for the highest bidder. From those subtle sparks, I developed my own original machinery of control and the tools characters use to fight back. Nano-tattoos and evolving AIs grew from that foundation.
At its heart, both stories feature ordinary people thrust into vast, rigged networks. Laura Webster’s journey in Islands in the Net echoed in my mind as I shaped Stella the imprisoned hacker and Nick the blackmailed soldier. Their defiance grew from my own ideas. Sterling’s images gave that initial nudge.
Islands in the Net remains a masterpiece of the genre. It grows more relevant than ever. It added quiet inspiration to my tale of hackers, fixers, and shattered consensus. If you love cyberpunk, it’s essential reading. I hope Shadows of Consensus carries a bit of that same electric charge.
Thanks for joining me in New Pax.
—David Bearclaw Author of Shadows of Consensus
June 9, 2023
Pet's family is uprooted from their home because the actions of her black sheep sister Deane. At such a young age, Pet doesn't fully understand what it is that Deane had gotten involved with, but now Pet is involved too, because she has found Deane's spellbook.
Others are looking for that spellbook as well. Those others are not just ordinary people. Pet prepares herself to make a sacrifice to protect her family, and that sacrifice has repercussions that last for many years afterward.
The novel traces Pet's life from her childhood in the 1960s to the present day 1980s. She faces a brutal coming of age as she tries to understand the forces of a world that exists beyond reality and continues to intersect her life.
The story moves along with solid momentum as Pet is forced to leave behind her childhood comforts. The book is divided in three parts: with the second and third parts beginning at an entirely new segment of Pet's life. The reader has to pause and readjust each time but it does not take long to catch up on events of the years that have passed. The ending of the overall novel did not leave as many answers as I would have liked.
Others are looking for that spellbook as well. Those others are not just ordinary people. Pet prepares herself to make a sacrifice to protect her family, and that sacrifice has repercussions that last for many years afterward.
The novel traces Pet's life from her childhood in the 1960s to the present day 1980s. She faces a brutal coming of age as she tries to understand the forces of a world that exists beyond reality and continues to intersect her life.
The story moves along with solid momentum as Pet is forced to leave behind her childhood comforts. The book is divided in three parts: with the second and third parts beginning at an entirely new segment of Pet's life. The reader has to pause and readjust each time but it does not take long to catch up on events of the years that have passed. The ending of the overall novel did not leave as many answers as I would have liked.
July 6, 2023
I read the edition published in 1987, which has a cover that suggests a more interesting tale than what's inside.
I found Pet to be a very uninvolving protagonist, whether she's a precocious child, shallow teenager, or shallow adult. I didn't care about any of the characters here. Also, things happen and then things happen and then things happen without much point. Just when something interesting is about to happen, she makes the narrative jump far ahead in time and then briefly tells us what we missed. Neil Gaiman did the road trip through the magical corners of America thing far better recently. Geary even throws in a wise Indian to initiate Pet in sex and magic. Bleargh. She's so eager to show you her research on past decades that every other paragraph has to mention some fad or object of times now gone to the point where it keeps interrupting the narrative. She spends a page and a half having Pet explain how a 60s California beach bunny might apply makeup. Why? Hell if I know. The ending left me with a "That's it!?!" feeling.
I found Pet to be a very uninvolving protagonist, whether she's a precocious child, shallow teenager, or shallow adult. I didn't care about any of the characters here. Also, things happen and then things happen and then things happen without much point. Just when something interesting is about to happen, she makes the narrative jump far ahead in time and then briefly tells us what we missed. Neil Gaiman did the road trip through the magical corners of America thing far better recently. Geary even throws in a wise Indian to initiate Pet in sex and magic. Bleargh. She's so eager to show you her research on past decades that every other paragraph has to mention some fad or object of times now gone to the point where it keeps interrupting the narrative. She spends a page and a half having Pet explain how a 60s California beach bunny might apply makeup. Why? Hell if I know. The ending left me with a "That's it!?!" feeling.
August 19, 2019
Very odd story. I totally agree with many reviewers that the first part was excellent, but it went seriously downhill from there. Could not connect emotionally to Pet after the first part, even loosing her family didn't seem to have any emotional impact to her. And the brief occult events had no real connection or place in the story. It seemed that even at the end of the book Pet had no idea what these occult episodes meant, and didn't care, and neither did I. I was very surprised when I turned the page and realized it was the end, like WTF?? After the incredible beginning, was very disappointed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 22, 2018
Rose
This book was hard to read at times, but I had to keep going to see what would happen next. Following Pet was very interesting yet hard to do. She seems an easy person to follow and see how her life continues.
This book was hard to read at times, but I had to keep going to see what would happen next. Following Pet was very interesting yet hard to do. She seems an easy person to follow and see how her life continues.
January 18, 2019
Very odd, voodoo magic and bad family dynamics. Odd characters that appear and disappear, time jumps. This won a Phillip K. Dick award but don't read it unless you are prepared for a weird ride. Not worth the time, IMHO.
May 28, 2017
Strange toys, indeed! I had a struggle getting into the story, but once into it it began to make sense. I would recommend it anyway.
November 26, 2017
P K Dick winner. B.
May 8, 2018
Strange Toys
This is one unique adventure of terror and horror masterfully written by a extremely talented author Patricia Geary. I Loved It!
This is one unique adventure of terror and horror masterfully written by a extremely talented author Patricia Geary. I Loved It!
May 21, 2018
Strange toys
I would love to read a sequel to this! This story had me captivated from beginning until the end. Very different.
I would love to read a sequel to this! This story had me captivated from beginning until the end. Very different.
June 25, 2018
Was hard
Was hard to understand at first, but really enjoyed this book. Not sure if it's for everyone , but guess I'm weird lol
Was hard to understand at first, but really enjoyed this book. Not sure if it's for everyone , but guess I'm weird lol
March 19, 2025
I liked the beginning...when she was just a clever kid and trying to figure stuff out. Went off in a different direction in the last 2/3....
October 22, 2025
So, I purchased a copy of F&SF's December, 1987 issue, specifically so that I could re-read Roger Robert Lovin's "The Cobbler." There are some other good stories in this issue, as well, including Michael Shea's "Delivery." (We miss you, Edward L. Ferman.) Also, there was Orson Scott Card's column "Books to Look For," in which he reviews Strange Toys. Card considered this novel to be horror, while most others consider it fantasy or SF. But there are plenty of horrific moments, and the plot is inextricably wound up with a voodoo curse, so it's not a stretch to call it horror. Card offered high praise for Geary's work, while at the same time decrying the ending.
Anyway, I vaguely remembered reading his review back in 1987 (I was a subscriber then), but I didn't read Strange Toys at that time. This time, however, I promptly ordered a secondhand copy from an online bookseller for about $ 7.00. So glad I did! Read Card's review. Then read some of the other reviews on here. Yes, the ending is ambiguous. But it seemed to me entirely fitting with the rest of this strangely compelling story.
Incidentally, I really liked the cover design of my Bantam Spectra Special Edition: Cool artwork by Jean-Francois Podevin, uncluttered design (saving the testimonials for the back and inside the front cover), even a neat 80's-looking font. So nice!
UPDATE: I read this a second time in October 2025, almost exactly a year after my first reading. I'm adding another half star & rounding up. Definitely, this is a book that rewards re-reading. Other reviewers have mentioned that the first part of the three parts is the strongest; it is true that the story loses a little momentum after about the first 150 pages. Still, I found it intriguing to follow Pet through her teenage & adult years. This novel isn't perfect, but I hope a new generation of readers will check this out for its many strong points.
Anyway, I vaguely remembered reading his review back in 1987 (I was a subscriber then), but I didn't read Strange Toys at that time. This time, however, I promptly ordered a secondhand copy from an online bookseller for about $ 7.00. So glad I did! Read Card's review. Then read some of the other reviews on here. Yes, the ending is ambiguous. But it seemed to me entirely fitting with the rest of this strangely compelling story.
Incidentally, I really liked the cover design of my Bantam Spectra Special Edition: Cool artwork by Jean-Francois Podevin, uncluttered design (saving the testimonials for the back and inside the front cover), even a neat 80's-looking font. So nice!
UPDATE: I read this a second time in October 2025, almost exactly a year after my first reading. I'm adding another half star & rounding up. Definitely, this is a book that rewards re-reading. Other reviewers have mentioned that the first part of the three parts is the strongest; it is true that the story loses a little momentum after about the first 150 pages. Still, I found it intriguing to follow Pet through her teenage & adult years. This novel isn't perfect, but I hope a new generation of readers will check this out for its many strong points.
June 26, 2016
Like many other reviewers here, I enjoyed the first and second sections of this book, and then was grievously disappointed by the final section and especially the ending, which I did not understand at all. I appreciated the first part enough to give the whole thing a 3-star rating, but I can't recommend it.
August 11, 2010
Definitely one of the oddest books I've ever read...but I loved the road trip and her little collection - she reminded me of me...
October 28, 2013
Read this when it came out, back in the late 80s, and remember LOVING it. Reading it again, and it's as good as I remember :).
May 28, 2019
I want to love her books. And I just don’t. There’s fantastic creativity and character introspection at play, but it just doesn’t come together for me.
May 15, 2018
2.5 stars for a crazy clusterf*** of weirdness I'm still not sure what to think of.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews