Nicholas Mancusi

I've been struggling to sum up how I feel about this book. What I realized is that my feelings mimic the story: all over the place with no clear definition one way or another.

The writing is strong, as far as sentence structure and the ability to grab attention. The writing is not so strong in regards to building an interesting plot.

I totally enjoyed the first third of the story. The family dynamics intrigued me, as did the unraveling of what happened with Oscar's mother prior to her death. Then Dawn, Oscar's one-night stand, stepped into the picture and things quickly became predictable. The final third of the book devolved into the absurd, and I really disliked the ending.

I'm still not sure whether the main plot was the issue regarding Oscar's mother or the problems Oscar got himself into with Dawn. Neither had enough depth, and they rivaled rather than complemented each other.

In the end, it's sort of an interesting character study that lacks substance.

*I received an advance copy from the publisher, via Amazon Vine, in exchange for my honest review.*… (altro)