4.5 stars - this book sat in my to read pile for a couple of years! I'm so glad I finally got around to reading it - I loved it! ( )

Like most of O'Dell's novels, this one is set in rural, coal-country Pennsylvania, but the reader also glimpses brief flashbacks of an alternating storyline in Spain, where bullfighting reigns. Brothers Klint and Kyle, estranged by their mother a few years earlier, and now orphaned due to an auto accident where their father is killed, have nowhere to go. Candace Jack, a local and wealthy spinster of sorts, offers to take them in. Kyle adapts pretty well to this and much of the story is told through his point of view. Klint, on the other hand, is cold and non-communicative, and seems to be carrying around a grudge, but the reader isn't sure what this grudge is all about, until it's revealed later in the novel. In the meantime, Candace's story, in regards to her time in Spain, is also slowly revealed.

I normally am a fan of Tawni O'Dell's writing, although her more recent novels have missed the mark with me. I would describe this one as mediocre. I never really felt pulled into this story and none of the characters particularly grabbed me. I'm not sure the two storylines really melded all that well, and I can't say that the bullfighting aspect was a big draw for me. I won't give up on O'Dell's writing, but I don't think this one was her best effort. ( )

This book was one I had trouble deciding about and mostly because in the back of my mind, I was trying to decide whether or not I would recommend it for my book club. My book club is fussy about what they want to read and look to read books that have a "raised bar" so to speak.

That said, I quite enjoyed parts of it - loved the straight talk and subtle humor of Candice, Luis and Kyle. I enjoyed too the two stories intertwining but did struggle a bit with the reality of those two stories actually happening as a scenario in real life. Feelings were well portrayed I thought and too, and I was struck about the naturalness of how close the siblings were - including the boys sister who really was quite removed from the main body of the story for the most part but the boys, especially Kyle never dismissed as his family. the mother was "another story" and one the reader could easily dislike I think.
Klint's struggles were evident to me despite his talents with baseball and when he finally "cracked", I was touched with Kyle's support for him - actually, all along.

The story unfolded a bit predictably but I must say that the references to Candace's being "old" came on much too strong for my taste. Is 77 really that old and does one go from a supposed vital, in charge woman to one so frail, so fast? ( wishful thinking on my part?)

One other part I had a chuckle about was Luis saying that one of the things he would like to teach Americans was that Ernest Hemingway knew nothing about bull fighting. I imagine Hemingway would be insulted by that given how much he experienced and wrote about the subject.

So, will I recommend this book to my book club? I'm still not sure although one could find several opinions to share I'm sure. I did love the title of the book though - very apt given the story of the bulls who are really fierce beasts who can be very destructive but too,in the end can be as fragile as turning away from a supposed threat ( Candice in the field) and the humans in the story who interact with them with their fragile natures but can succumb to the pressures of their lives.

I give it a 4. ( )

When I read Tawni O'Dell's Coal Run a few years ago, it became an instant favorite. So I was certain that I would love Fragile Beasts. I hate it when I'm wrong. In fact, three stars is probably a little generous. However, parts of it were compelling so I can't quite give it two stars. I guess I'll just settle on 2 1/2.

Set in Pennsylvania coal country, Fragile Beasts tells the story of the wealthy and reclusive Candace Jack, a woman who has tried to recreate the Spain of her youth in the remote mansion where she makes her home. Her obsession for all things Spanish begins as so many obsessions do: with a loss. The love of her life, a Spanish bullfighter, was killed in the ring, leaving Candace to forever mourn what could have been. Understandably, the town sees her as the crazy old spinster lady that nobody ever sees--although, in lieu of cats, she keeps a bull. That's right. A bull. She bought the bull that killed her lover and has always kept one bull from each generation.

So, we have an old woman nearing the end of a life created from walling herself off from her own emotions and from other people. We've been here before. There's only one thing to do: create a plot device by which she is forced to interact with a young person who is damaged himself/herself and through this unlikely pairing, both will be forever changed. In this case, Candace agrees to take in two teenage boys who have recently lost their father in a drunk driving accident. Their mother left years ago and is clearly an unfit parent, even though she returns to collect the boys and move them to Arizona. Candace reluctantly agrees to take the boys in mainly to spite the mother, to whom she takes an instant dislike. The rest of the novel follows the uneasy relationship between the two boys, Kyle and Klint, who are coping with the death of their father, and Candace, a woman whose motherly instincts are non-existent.

My main complaint is that there was simply too much going on. There are two stories, one set in the past during Candace's experiences in Spain and one in the present. The present day story is narrated from 3 points of view: Candace, Kyle (the sensitive, more emotionally open boy), and her Spanish butler/friend Luis. However, the "voice" between these three perspectives isn't varied enough. Kyle in particular seems inauthentic as his chapters don't always read like that of a young teenager. Sure, he's mature for his age, but I've never known a teenager to be that insightful. Candace Jack is exactly what one would expect of a wealthy older woman--always concerned with the proper way of dressing, speaking, eating, behaving, etc. If she had been more salty and cantankerous it would have given the novel more energy and perhaps more suspense. She has flashes of humor, but they're sparse. These first person points of view also led to a lot of telling and not showing. Most of the chapters were internal dialogue in which the character reflected on the progress being made in forming the tentative bonds that would eventually bring them together as a family. Instead of reflections, I would have preferred to see more in the moment interactions between the characters. The Luis chapters serve primarily to explain what happened in Candace's life decades ago.

Despite its predictability and its flaws, there were some compelling moments, some witty dialogue, and I admire O'Dell's refusal to shy away from the dark corners of life. For me, the back story of Candace and the bullfighter were the most interesting, as were Luis's stories about being a boy in Spain. These stories made me wish an entire novel had been dedicated to Candace's youth. As it is, the competing storylines never seem to get the breathing room they need to come alive. ( )

I listened to this book and really enjoyed the story. Although there were multiple points of view, the use of two narrators really helped me to keep track of who was speaking. I love the image of the title, "fragile beasts" that suggests that one can be brutal and yet at the same time can be broken so easily. This novel is about grief and how we cope with it, but it is also about how we help each other and how we can find grace in the oddest and most unexpected places. ( )