ugh. Really long and meandering, with no real plot or payoff. But it did compel me to finish, so I guess that says something. No, wouldn't recommend. ( )

This is an epistolary novel about Fawn Birchill, an oddly unlikeable, cat-loving, bookstore owning, 50-something year old woman. I say oddly unlikeable because, let's face it, the character spoke to me. But Fawn was simply irksome to the point of kind of, sort of making me, maybe a little bit, want to punch her in the fucking face.

Through the emails diary entries, and blog posts, I found her to be rude, overly and unfairly demanding of her young employees, exploitative of her elderly tenant, insensitive to anyone else, delusional about herself, petty with her family, and just fucking horrible.

You might ask why I finished it and why the two stars... Well, I actually enjoy unlikeable characters (think A Confederacy of Dunces) because I often find myself identifying with them in some way or another. We all have our faults but we are also human and great writers force you to empathise with their protagonists. This wasn't the case with Fawn. I kept reading expecting that there would be an arc. That at some point she would wake the fuck up. And, spoiler alert, she did. But there was no arc. It came so late and was so uncharacteristic of her by that point that it failed miserably in redeeming her.

I also finished it because it was an easy read. This was a free "First Reads" book from Amazon and, as such, I knew it would probably be a throw away. And it was. ( )

I was preparing to DNF and escape a train-wreck (about 40% through) when I went onto Goodreads to see what others were thinking, discovered I wasn't alone and came to the conclusion that there might be a reward for finishing.
Four things got me through this book:
1) Knowing that the characters weren't real and as a consequence, weren't actually suffering what the author was putting them through.
2) Deciding to hope that there aren't real people like Fern in the world, or if there are, that they're getting professional help.
3) Believing that, according to those who persevered, there is some redemption at the end.
4) Giving myself permission to skim over the agony, the cringe and the slow disintegration of Fern's life -- to get to the redemption and healing.

My advice to the publisher -- fire the person(s) who chose the cover. Now. Yes, we're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but this one is doing a disservice to the book by setting up readers with a false expectation. Yes, it convinced me to click on a link and add some Amazon credit to someone's account somewhere. For that, I am a sucker. But it feels that so many people are frustrated by the dissonance between what the cover said the book was and the actual contents. Not quite false advertising, but close.

My advice to the author -- keep writing. I'd give you another chance. I mean it.

My advice to the readers -- it's up to you whether or not to keep reading. There is some redemption at the end. You don't have to read all the posts thoroughly -- you already know the general trajectory of the spiral. There are indeed some important turning points and you won't want to miss them.

As for me, I've already liberated the bits on my reader thingy. Be free. (But would someone let me know when she publishes her next one?) ( )

Fortunately, I received this book from Amazon First Read and did not waste any money on this sad dark tale. Fawn, the protagonist, is mentally ill. She is suffering from some type of borderline personality. The signs are everywhere in the book; Fawn lies in her pen pal letters, has visions of grandeur, believes she is more intelligent than most everyone in her life and more attractive than reality.

If you wish to be depressed or educated in mental health, then read this book or take a past. ( )

Pandemic read. Not as enchanted as I'd hoped, despite my love of bookstores and the city where this is set. I'll give it another try today, but this may be a dnf. I am not find of the style of communication of letters/emails/notes/etc and I don't like the main character. She'd have to shape up a lot for me get get in her court for anything. ( )