I read this book for the Librarything Early Reviewers. I had a hard time being drawn in; the imagery and fable-like qualities were appealing, but I found the characters felt one dimensional at times. I agree with another reviewer- this book was not for me, but may resonate well with others. ( )

This was a very difficult book for me to get into. I didn't find it pith and there was too much vinegar. I wasn't sure I wanted to find out the relationships of Ida, Gertie, and Daniel Mendoza. ( )

Sometimes a book just doesn't work for you but it doesn't necessarily mean the book is bad, it just wasn't right for you. I just never felt like I connected with any of the characters or their story lines. Indifference is a worse feeling to have than hating the characters because unlikable characters can be entertaining. I never felt invested in the story, even from the beginning. It's a shame though because it did have elements I normally enjoy in books but for whatever reason as a whole the book didn't work. Hopefully others will have a better reading experience with it.

I won a free copy of this book from LibraryThing Early Reviewers. All views expressed are my honest opinion. ( )

While a lot went wrong for me (which I'll get into below), I think that the absolute greatest part of the book was the prose - that in itself earned Book of Hats an extra star. Dov Zeller has a way with words -- the pages simply bleed with the despair that Ida feels, the spiral that she falls into. There is a line blurred between poetry and prose, and it feels like sheer heaven to read something so well crafted.

However, this is also what made this such a hard read. I felt so dark and helpless journeying through these pages. At times, I felt as if I was physically sick and about to throw up. I love being able to feel a character's despair, but when the character is despaired for about 400 out of 450 pages, I can't help but get exhausted. Its like running a marathon without being allowed to breathe. Suffocating. I felt that way much of the time, particularly once Ida (the MC) went through some of her more difficult losses. I was exasperated by the constant probing from other characters to get her to open up, and at times felt like hurling the book against the wall. Perhaps this was the point, but once again, it felt too heavy for me.

Along with the dark and depressing mood of the main character, Ida, there were her dreams mixed in with reality. Dreamland, reality and fantasy were often blurred to the point where the convoluted mixture made me give up trying to understand and read the page just to get through it. The beginning was particularly convoluted - A history of the family that I felt did nothing to add to the book - as well as was the end. In fact, I struggle to understand what exactly the ending meant to convey. Dream or reality? Is Ida alive or dead? I had so many questions at the end, and after journeying with this character for nearly 500 pages, I was honestly very irritated to not be able to understand what exactly happened to her. Once again, perhaps someone else might be able to puzzle it out, but after the grueling ride, I simply did not have it in me to dissect every sentence and tease apart dreams from reality.

For me, this book got a 2 star review. I understand that perhaps I did not fully grasp what was going on, and there were a lot of great things in it, but at the end of the day, it is not worth reading almost 500 pages to have no closure. Perhaps someone else would understand the abstract, the darkness, the despair, but I know that if I had known in advance, Book of Hats would have been a hard pass for me. ( )

This is a difficult book to rate. I received a copy from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers, in exchange for an honest review. A seriously talented, creative writer. An interesting story. The early release copy needs a little proof-reading, to fix a handful of grammatical errors, but they didn't interfere too much with the read. The difficult part relates to the discomfort the reader feels the primary character wallowing in throughout the book. I kept hoping that s/he would find a sense of acceptance, or learn how to allow others to know the self so tightly held inside. The writing is lyrical and slightly Jewish-fairy-tale in feeling. Some lovely images and passages. But, still a little repetitive and somewhat unsatisfying. I needed more "hope" for this character. I hurt for her/him but couldn't get past that. ( )