Craig Ball

While it’s nice to read this little confection, it’s more like an extended short story than a novel. So much hype surrounding it! It does have the gorgeous imagery we love, yet starts to feel repetitive halfway through. The family dynamic feels a bit 2-D, and while it sports some of that familiar deadpan humor and irony, it doesn’t really ever come to life. So, mixed review here. The ending, though abrupt, was its redeeming feature. It’s where I finally saw the magical realism of daily life, and having that twist at the end is what also cemented it as a short story for me. The rest seems to fall away.