Shelter in Place by David LeavittMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
Thank you @netgalley for the ARC, I wouldn't have known anything about this novel if I hadn't been looking through the lists of a new book to read and a new author to be exposed to.
Let me say this... The opening paragraph made me snort outloud.
The rest of the book not as much. Now that may seem cruel, it isn't. There are other reviews out there that will give you the synopsis and deeper dives into the content of the book... I am not here to rehash any of that information.
The book opens on the Saturday after the President is elected in 2016. Let it be said the main character of the book isn't too pleased and that is the basic premise of where the book takes us, I guess.
I appreciated that the characters were wealthy literary folk. It made the conversations and situations plausible and entertaining. I was transported to a part of New York Literati that I will never be able to experience. I felt very much like I was eavesdropping at a fancy restaurant on people I would never actually know.
Rich people.
The book opens on the Saturday after the President is elected in 2016. Let it be said the main character of the book isn't too pleased and that is the basic premise of where the book takes us, I guess.
I appreciated that the characters were wealthy literary folk. It made the conversations and situations plausible and entertaining. I was transported to a part of New York Literati that I will never be able to experience. I felt very much like I was eavesdropping at a fancy restaurant on people I would never actually know.
Rich people.
Rich entitled people who can afford to by houses / apartments in another country and have their decorator fly to design the space. It was so out of my very own league that it made the concept of the book entertaining but maddening. I suppose reading it when the nightly podcasts and news tell me how many people are unemployed, reading about a character who buys an apartment in Venice because she nary wants to live in this country anymore under the current (as of November 2016) presidency rings a lot hollow to me. I wanted to like these characters... but I just couldn't. I couldn't get there. Plus all the characters were using one another in a way that just was so hollow. I don't think truly any of them like one another very much.
The writing and the dialogue is expansive, lovely and honestly what kept me engaged. But it was a hard one to finish for me. I just sorta stopped caring about the main characters and some of the secondary characters. Also some characters completely disappear. There is one ... who could have become a much bigger character I think... just sort of stopped being in the story. It was weird. So when the book ended and just kinda tidied everything up in a nice little bow I was satisfied.
I liked the book. It was good. Not great. It needed a little more zing and zang that I think a good decorator would give to a Venice apartment with bland beige walls and an overgrown garden could.
***spoiler and I promise my only one ***
There is one monologue in the story near the end that is touching as hell (in a way) but I wanted to punch the character because he was explaining why he didn't want to return to Venice. This is why the character is punch-able to me... His actions and the author choosing to have this character reveal that he had a lover who dies of AIDS but the character refused after that to ever get a test himself was completely offensive to me. I don't know what the point of that is. And it's never really explained and there is no repercussions for the character.
Which is kinda the way the book goes. Great promise... a couple of great potential storylines that just kinda didn't really go anywhere like I hoped.
View all my reviews
The writing and the dialogue is expansive, lovely and honestly what kept me engaged. But it was a hard one to finish for me. I just sorta stopped caring about the main characters and some of the secondary characters. Also some characters completely disappear. There is one ... who could have become a much bigger character I think... just sort of stopped being in the story. It was weird. So when the book ended and just kinda tidied everything up in a nice little bow I was satisfied.
I liked the book. It was good. Not great. It needed a little more zing and zang that I think a good decorator would give to a Venice apartment with bland beige walls and an overgrown garden could.
***spoiler and I promise my only one ***
There is one monologue in the story near the end that is touching as hell (in a way) but I wanted to punch the character because he was explaining why he didn't want to return to Venice. This is why the character is punch-able to me... His actions and the author choosing to have this character reveal that he had a lover who dies of AIDS but the character refused after that to ever get a test himself was completely offensive to me. I don't know what the point of that is. And it's never really explained and there is no repercussions for the character.
Which is kinda the way the book goes. Great promise... a couple of great potential storylines that just kinda didn't really go anywhere like I hoped.
View all my reviews
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