+
Fourteen-year-old Raquel Falcone is, as one of her classmates puts it, the kind of kid who has a tendency to be invisible. That is until the night she's hit by a car and killed while walking home from the movies. In brief, moving chapters, we hear about Raquel from her classmates, her best friend, her family--and the woman who was driving the car that struck her. The loss of this seemingly invisible girl deeply affects her entire community, proving just how interconnected and similar we all really are. -summary from goodreadsWell Remembering Raquel was really like a short story for me, and at only 137 short pages, I honestly felt like just about everything in the book could have been more developed. When I first read the summary, I liked the idea of the book, but after reading it I must say I am utterly disappointed... I don't even know where to begin...
I did like the originality of some of the points of view shared in the book (example: the custodian who cleaned out Raquel's locker at school). Some other people who shared: her best friend, father, a teacher, the woman driving the car who hit her, etc. I also liked the idea of a chapter with excerpts from Raquel's blog, but I'm not satisfied with what excerpts the author chose to write about.
Sorry if this sounds harsh, but Raquel's character wasn't developed enough for me to even care if she got hit by a car or not. The only things I really feel like I knew was that she was shy, overweight, and liked playing a fantasy game on the internet. I think maybe the book should have started with a chapter from Raquel's point of view of her life, because no one in the book really knew her either, except her best friend...
Which brings me to the fact that half of the time, it seemed like whoever was sharing their point of view would get sidetracked and most chapters ended up feeling like ramblings as opposed to anything related Raquel.
The book ended abruptly; there was no resolution and the whole book basically led up to...well, nothing.
I guess this could have been a good book if the author would have elaborated more on Raquel and made the book longer...I don't know this just didn't do it for me.
5 comments:
Intriguing. Great review.
Where ever did you find this book? I would love to read it.
What a pity - the summary sounds really intriguing. I've read and enjoyed some books by this author, but hadn't heard of this one before. Thanks for the heads up.
well that stinks. the synopsis sounds really good... and 137 pages? that's really short!
Oh and thank you for participating in my contest! I really appreciate it :)
I found it at my library, picked it up just skimming through the shelves.
Yes 137 pages is really short, and the actual book is small too, length & width-wise.
I totally understand how you feel. I've read a few books recently that was actually longer in length than Remembering Raquel and it still lacked in so many areas. There could have just been more in every part of the story. So I definitely know where you're coming from.
Post a Comment