Book 10/30.
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I didn’t like this as much as I thought I would, but I also liked it more than I thought I would.
Allow me to explain.
After a series of misses I no longer approach novels from Oprah’s Book Club with any sort of anticipation. I have bought too many books after being lured in by “Oprah’s Book Club” on the cover, only for them to be mediocre at best or boring AF at worst. I now purposefully avoid buying books with her stamp of approval on the cover as I tediously work my way through my existing stash.
Going into this I was prepared for mediocrity at best, but the book started off really strong with the undoing of Ingrid by her relationship with Barry, which made for some compelling reading. The series of foster homes Astrid lived in after her mother was imprisoned for murder, each its own universe, with its own laws, its own dangers, its own hard lessons to be learned, made for even more compelling reading. The foster homes, and how Astrid was treated in each of them, made me angry, sad and appalled. Those two aspects of the novel are why I liked White Oleander more than most Oprah’s Book Club novels I’ve read. On the flip side, there was just too much stream of consciousness (a narrative device I hate so much I had to say so in my bio when I joined Goodreads in 2015) in between the good stuff which is why I didn’t like this as much as I thought I would despite the really strong start.
** A guide to ratings **
1 star – did not like it
2 stars – it was okay
3 stars – liked it
4 stars – really liked it
5 stars – it was amazing
Lwile the Leo 