You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott
In my ongoing search for a great book, I found You Will Know Me on a list called "Books I Couldn't Put Down". The list contained several other books I had already read and enjoyed so I trusted that the rest of the titles would live up to the name of the list.
You Will Know Me is the story of Devon Knox, a 15 year old, highly talented gymnast at the BelStars gym. Her parents have devoted their existence to making sure she someday lands an Olympic gold. The path however, is long, hard and very expensive. Her little brother, Drew, goes along without ever complaining about all the attention paid to Devon. Katie and Eric drive worn out cars and max out their credit cards to follow the dream they have for Devon.
The story plunges the reader deep into the word of gymnastics to the degree that nothing else interesting ever seems to happen. I'd read 50 % of the book, skimming as I went, before the inciting incident occurred. Frankly, I'm not all that interested in rich and entitled parents pushing their children to the limits that will impact the child's health and well being for the rest of their lives. And the more I read the less interest I had in the million minute details on how to stick the perfect vault.
And then there was the writing itself. Most of it was not even complete sentences, the author choosing to use fragments most of the time. The story lacked cohesion, jumping from one point of view to another so often that I struggled to know who was speaking or where the character was and who they were with. Anytime I read a book that forces me to go back before going forward to figure out where I am, there's trouble. I suffered through to the end and I still can't tell you who did it. Don't be fooled by this one. I definitely don't need to know you and I'm crossing you off my list.
In my ongoing search for a great book, I found You Will Know Me on a list called "Books I Couldn't Put Down". The list contained several other books I had already read and enjoyed so I trusted that the rest of the titles would live up to the name of the list.
You Will Know Me is the story of Devon Knox, a 15 year old, highly talented gymnast at the BelStars gym. Her parents have devoted their existence to making sure she someday lands an Olympic gold. The path however, is long, hard and very expensive. Her little brother, Drew, goes along without ever complaining about all the attention paid to Devon. Katie and Eric drive worn out cars and max out their credit cards to follow the dream they have for Devon.
The story plunges the reader deep into the word of gymnastics to the degree that nothing else interesting ever seems to happen. I'd read 50 % of the book, skimming as I went, before the inciting incident occurred. Frankly, I'm not all that interested in rich and entitled parents pushing their children to the limits that will impact the child's health and well being for the rest of their lives. And the more I read the less interest I had in the million minute details on how to stick the perfect vault.
And then there was the writing itself. Most of it was not even complete sentences, the author choosing to use fragments most of the time. The story lacked cohesion, jumping from one point of view to another so often that I struggled to know who was speaking or where the character was and who they were with. Anytime I read a book that forces me to go back before going forward to figure out where I am, there's trouble. I suffered through to the end and I still can't tell you who did it. Don't be fooled by this one. I definitely don't need to know you and I'm crossing you off my list.
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