Ezequiel Grand Grand itibaren Chiesanuova, San Marino
Supernatural teen fiction! This was my light read during the especially traumatic parts of Ministry of Special Cases. I always love Maureen Johnson.
I found the writing unimpressive. You know how you read some books, and you feel like jotting down witty phrases or beautifully written passages that seem to jump off the page? Well, this book is the opposite of that. Nafisi's story is compelling, but the storytelling is unbelievably dull. I was especially surprised by this because, throughout the book, Nafisi claims to be a writer. Despite Nafisi's lackluster writing style, I did read the whole thing (finally!). The book provides a perspective on what life was like for educated women in Iran during the 1980s. Because of that, the book was marginally worthwhile to read. But only if you've got time & motivation (as I did) to read through pages and pages of uninspired writing.
** spoiler alert ** I want to give this more than three stars, but less than four. A shining example of why you shouldn't be a terrible human being to everyone that crosses your path. Somewhat like It's a Wonderful Life, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, and A Christmas Carol. Bridget is pushy, self-centered, and more about self-preservation than honesty. Someone served her some humble pie. She decided to get her act together. She was so unbelievably oblivious and nasty about her "friend's" (if you could say she and Michelle were friends) seriously problems with food that I found it hard to feel sorry for her. The only gripe with this story is that two of those she wronged (Mr. Ezhno & Brett) kind of fell by the wayside. She wrote them letters thinking that she was going to die, and then left the letters on her bed, assuming that the letters would just be given to the gentlemen. She did kind of make it right with the Headmaster of her school, but didn't personally apologize. I guess three out of five personal apologies isn't bad... right?