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3.5

This book started out quite strong and good for me. In a style, with themes I am really drawn to: human fates, psychology, depicting dysfunctional families, emotions, personal relationships... and I really enjoyed the novel up to 2/3 of it. I loved the parts about Laura's childhood and her trying to realize the world around her, how to handle the fact that her parents clearly love her belated brother more, how to handle the birth of a new sibling, how to find someone to confide in. I also loved the parts about Shirley's teen years and getting in contact with young men and how her decision on whom to get cozy with is affecting her life and happiness.
Then it went downhill really fast when the character Llewellyn was introduced.

I am a non-religious person, and I am rarely into any plotlines in novels regarding religious philosophizing and how deeds of people are seen from a religious point of view. In this case, I found it done in a really boring way. I also was not a fan of the dialogues from 2/3 of the book... I don't mind moralizing and philosophizing as long as they can keep my interest sparked, but I got so bored so quickly.

I also did not find the ending justified on a lot of levels. I was intrigued by Laura's and Llewellyn's moral debates about how Laura's past deeds played a role in what happened later to people in her surroundings... but in this case, I sort of expect me, the reader, to have an "uh-huh!" sort of revelation moment, when I start thinking that "OK, from what I read about this and this person, this theory MAKES SENSE"... but here, I did not have that. I felt that either something is missing from the theory or the characterization of some characters in the beginning was not done effectively enough. I also found Laura's decision about how to live her life after what happened quite abrupt and uncalled for. Like, Llewellyn told her "you should do this" and she was like "Oh, OK, cool!".

(the cover is freaking stunning, though)