The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold

I liked it well enough, I suppose. Definitely was an interesting premise.

I loved, loved, loved "The Lovely Bones," so this kind of had to be a letdown.

I agree, Tammie... this book followed what some call the typical Sebold formula--starts with a bang and then falls flat (although I actually liked The Lovely Bones). I read it entirely, which is a pretty good sign, because if it was terrible I'd have no qualms giving up on it. But the dialogue was kind of weird in a lot of places... a character would say something, and another character would respond with something that was irrelevant or made no sense. It wasn't entirely believable to me. And the scene with the mob of neighbors coming to urge the Knightlys out of the neighborhood and slapping Helen verged on absurdity.

Bottom line, Sebold's style of prose is great (minus some dialogue, as mentioned), but the novel just didn't have enough in it to make it a good book. It's not something I'd ever read again.

I haven't read either novel, but I heard an NPR interview with Alice Sebold just a couple of weeks ago. She said she'd been given a two-book contract with Bones, so you have to wonder if this new novel doesn't suffer from the obligation to fulfill the contract. Wouldn't be the first writer to have that problem.

caw