Good Reads for All discussion

Kim has been busy with crazy weather in Florida, so I'm going to start the initial discussion on this book.

I've already ready finished and loved it, but just want to break it down in the way Kim had it.

Right away I dislike the dad. As an atheist I'm not super into religion, but I do come from a very religious family and respect it as necessary to some people. So the rumors of him quoting a bible verse about the wife submitting to the husband at a marriage counseling camp really annoyed me. Using religion to claim superiority over others is so wrong.

Obviously the marriage has a lot of conflicting opinions in it. The mom and dad don't agree on a lot of things. The dad has lost his job, which can really depress people sometimes. In this instance the dad seems to get super defensive about saying grace at the table, but also deflates easily.

During the first part of the book you can tell something is off with Marjorie, but she rather goofy about it. Her stories were crazy scary. Anyone want to elaborate on them?

The stories escalated quickly from cute to disturbing. I think that is Merrie's first indicator that something is off with her sister, and it's all the more disturbing for her because it was something they shared together. A treasured bond between her and her older sister had become suddenly corrupted.
I really enjoyed the way Merrie is used as a narrator. I think the author captured her naïveté (as remembered 15 years later) quite believably. I don't think her voice ever seemed false or unnatural.