A Review (Of Sorts) of Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

Title: Her Fearful Symmetry

Author: Audrey Niffenegger

ISBN: 978-1439165393

Publishing Info: Scriber, 2009

Number of Pages: 416

Book Category: Fiction

A draft for a review of this book has been sitting in my drafts folder for AGES!!! I downloaded and read the book on my Kindle almost immediately upon its release. I was breathless with anticipation to read it. Yet I've struggled with my feelings and the review for this book for far too long. So I'm abandoning my traditional books review format, and I'm just going to write an open letter to the author in lieu of a traditional review. Keep in mind, the author knows what happened in her book so I freely discuss some of the events that happened. If you haven't read the book and don't want to find out some key plot points of the book, perhaps you should skip this post. In other words, there are spoilers in this post!

Dear Audrey Niffenegger:

I can't even tell you how excited I was when I heard that you had a new book coming out! I absolutely adored The Time Traveler's Wife and recommend it to everyone who can stand listening to me rhapsodize how about awesome it is. I know this probably put a lot of pressure on you though. I mean, when you write a book that is so brilliant and amazing and popular, expectations are awfully high for your follow-up book. And I'm an experienced reader. I shouldn't have gotten so excited. I should have downplayed my expectations for Her Fearful Symmetry. It would have been fairer to you and to me. Because I was a wee bit disappointed with Her Fearful Symmetry. I'm so sorry, but I was.

It started out good. Even the title intrigued me: Her Fearful Symmetry. Kind of an odd and mysterious title—a bit frightening even. It portends something, and I wanted to find out what. And I was totally with you in the beginning. I was digging the storyline—loving how Elspeth explores becoming a ghost. I loved reading about Martin—you really made the whole OCD thing come alive for me in a way that no other writer has ever done. Your writing really entrances and amuses me. You have talent—and don't let anyone tell you otherwise! For the first third of the book, I was in love.

BUT... (and unfortunately there is a BUT) ...

...the book started to fall apart for me in the second third. If I may be so bold, let me tell you why I think it didn't work.

• There was a bit too much about Highgate Cemetery. Although I love the descriptions and the setting is appropriate and cool, there was just a little too much information and time spent on the cemetery itself and Robert's thesis. I read that you worked at the cemetery as a guide, and obviously it inspired and excited you—but there was a bit too much about the cemetery and I felt it detracted from the reading experience.

• I think the plot could be tightened up in the middle. There was an awful lot of sections about being lost in London that started to feel repetitive and didn't add too much to the story. At times, I felt like Julia and Valentina did nothing but ride on the Tube and get lost.

• And if we're cutting out parts, how about the whole Julia and Martin thing? (Don't you love how I switched to the Royal We—like I'm working with you on editing the book?) That didn't really ring true to me. I don't get why Martin would let Julia into his life like that, and Julia didn't really develop for me as a character so I didn't get why she was so into visiting Martin. Boredom? Needing to hang out with someone because Valentina was falling for Robert? Julia seemed like the more "normal" twin. I felt she could have actually made a friend outside of the house.
  

• So now that we found some places to cut, maybe you could have focused more on the love triangle between Robert, Valentina and Elspeth? I felt that you introduced it, started creating tension and then kind of abandoned it. I thought this was one of the key plot points for the ending, and I thought you lost your focus on it.
  

• Oh...and the whole "switched thing" between Edie and Elspeth? It was anticlimactic and ended up being a bit confusing for me. I couldn't really remember who was who after a little bit, and it seemed like almost no character really cared about it. I mean, even Edie's husband (Jack??) knew all along and didn't seem to care. It seemed like it wasn't a good enough reason for the lifelong estrangement between Edie and Elspeth. And I don't recall Julia and Valentina ever finding out, right? They would have been the ones who would have been rocked by this secret, but they don't find out. It might have been better for them to discover the secret—it would have ratcheted up the tension between them, Edie and Elspeth more.

• One of the things I think you did brilliantly was make Elspeth's experience and "training" as a ghost totally believable and intriguing. Just like the time travel element in The Time Traveler's Wife, you presented the implausible as so matter of fact that I totally bought into it. I could believe in the type of ghost that Elspeth was, and I loved how she built up her strength and her powers. The whole Kitten of Death sections were fun and believable. But you know what wasn't believable? The whole Robert "faking the death and dragging the body back to his apartment" thing. It felt too rushed, too easy and I just didn't buy it. I guess I needed him to struggle with it a bit more.

• I do have to give you props for the parts about Martin and Marijke though. I loved reading about them and cared about them more than I actually cared for Julia and Valentina and the gang. It was a touching love story that really rang true to me. I could almost see you writing an entire book about Martin and Marijke—his struggles to get better to be with her, her struggle to leave him while still loving him. There is a lot of material there, and I enjoyed the Martin and Marijke storyline when it appeared. But is it bad that I was more involved in secondary characters and plot lines than the main characters? Perhaps.
  

However, despite all my bitching and moaning, I LOVED your ending. It sat right with me and felt true. I'm a sucker for nasty endings so this suited me just fine. Even though I started out really liking Elspeth, I turned on her toward the end so I appreciated her getting her comeuppance.

I hope you don't mind my sharing my thoughts like this. I did it because I think you're a great writer, and I wanted to LOVE Her Fearful Symmetry. I really did ... but I couldn't and I felt compelled to tell you why. Most books that I don't care for, I just shrug and toss aside. I couldn't with you because I respect you too much. And despite all my problems with the plot, it doesn't change the fact that I admire your writing skills and your ideas. I'll keep on reading your books if you'll keep on writing them!

Your admirer (and guilty-feeling critic),
Jenners

My Final Recommendation

Great writing but ultimately the plot didn't work for me. I thought the first third of the book was brilliant, but then it fell apart and I was left wanting. However, Audrey Niffenegger is a very talented writer with a wonderful imagination. I think that this book is worth trying. Also, I might have expected too much from it due to my love of The Time Traveler's Wife.

Where I Got The Book

I purchased the book from Amazon for my Kindle.

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Announcing The Take Another Chance Challenge

Because of the enthusiasm for the first Take A Chance Challenge, I decided to create a new set of challenges for 2010. This year, the challenge will be called Take Another Chance. Like last year, the challenge is all about taking chances with your reading by finding books to read in unusual or random ways. Unlike last year, I'm offering different levels of participation and a longer time frame to encourage greater participation and decrease frustration.

Basic Information

• The challenge will run from January 1, 2010 until December 31, 2010.

• Here are the participation levels. Feel free to do whatever level you want. You can also switch up or down midway through the challenge.
  

A Small Gamble: Complete any 3 of the 12 challenges described below.
A Moderate Gamble: Complete any 6 of the 12 challenges described below.
Gambling It All: Complete all 12 of the challenges described below.

• Each challenge you complete and link up in the correct Mr. Linky spots (which will be posted on January 1, 2010) will earn you entries into a prize drawing at the end of the challenge. Some of the challenges are harder and will earn you more entries. If you complete all 12 challenges, you will earn 5 extra entries into the drawing.

• The prize is a book of the winner's choice from Amazon (worth $25 or less).
  

• Crossover books from other challenges is fine.

So here are the 12 challenges for you to pick from. The "easier" challenges are listed first, followed by the harder challenges that are worth more entries into the prize drawing.

The 12 Challenges

Challenge 1: Read Your Doppelganger (worth 1 entry)
Find an author who has either the same initials, the same first name, the same last name, or the exact same name as you. Read a book by this author and write a post about it. (If you try to keep your identity anonymous on your blog, you don't have to reveal what part of the author's name is the same as your name.)

Example: If your name is Susan Kasischke, you might read a book by Stephen King (same initials), Susan Donovan (same first name), Laura Kasischke (same last name) or Susan Kasischke (same exact name).

Challenge 2: Blogroll Roulette (worth 1 entry)
Find a blogroll at either your book blog or a book blog you like that has at least 15 book blogs on it. Go to Random.org and, using the True Random Number Generator, enter the number 1 for the min. and 15 for the max. and then hit generate. Then find the blog that is that number on the blogroll you selected. (For example, if you get 10 at Random.org, then count down the list of blogs until you get to the tenth one). Go to that blog and pick a book to read from the books that they have reviewed on their blog. Read it and write a post about it. Be sure to link to the blog post you picked the book from!

Challenge 3: 100 Best Book (worth 1 entry)
Choose one of the lists below and go to the link provided. Choose a book to read from the list that you haven't read before. Read the book and write about it.

• Radcliffe's Rival 100 Best Novels List
• Top 100 Sci-Fi Books
• 100 Best Romance Novels of the 20th Century
• 100 Best Mystery Novels
  
• 100 Best Non-Fiction Books (pick from either Board List or Reader List)
• 2009 Best Books for Young Adults

Challenge 4: Prize Winner Book (worth 1 entry)
Pick one of the major literary awards from the list below. Click on the link for the award you picked. You will find a brief description of the award and links to past winners. Pick one of the past winners, read the book and write about it.

• Booker Prize
  
• Caldecott Medal
  
• National Book Award
  
• National Book Critics Circle Award
  
• Newbery Medal
  
• Nobel Prize for Literature
  
• PEN/Faulkner Award
  
• Pulitzer Prize
  
• Commonwealth Writers' Prize
  
• EMMA Awards

Challenge 5: Title Word Count (worth 1 entry)
Go to Random.org and, using the True Random Number Generator, enter the numbers 1 for the min. and 5 for the max. and then hit generate. Find a book to read that has that number of words in the title. Read the book and write about it.

Example: If you get 1 for your number, read a book that has a one word title. If you get 2, read a book that has a two word title and so on and so forth.

Challenge 6: Genre Switch-Up (worth 1 entry)
Go to this list of book genres and pick a genre that you have NEVER read before. Find a book from that genre, read it, and write about it. Note: If you seriously cannot find a genre that you have never read, then pick the genre that is as far away from what you normally read.

Challenge 7: Break A Prejudice (worth 1 entry)
We all have reading prejudices--authors we don't like, genres we don't like, or even publishers we don't like. For this challenge, think of a reading prejudice you have and then find a book that is an example of this type of book. Read the book and then write about the reading prejudice you had BEFORE you read the book and how reading the book either changed your prejudice or reinforced it.

Examples: I always say I can't stand James Patterson; therefore, I might read a James Patterson book for this challenge. Or, if you sneer at "chick lit" books, you might read a "chick lit" book. Or, if you think books published by Harlequin are pure drivel, you might read a book published by Harlequin. If you turn up your nose at the Twilight books, then you might read one of the Twilight books.

Challenge 8: Real and Inspired (worth 2 entries)
Many authors or books inspire others to pay homage to them by writing another book inspired by the original work. For this challenge, read both an original work and a book inspired by that original work. Write about both books in one post. Note: This might require some research on your part and requires reading two books so it worth 2 entries.

Examples: Christopher Moore's Fool is based on Shakespeare's play King Lear so I plan on reading both King Lear and Fool. Another example is Jane Austen, who inspired the book Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. For this challenge, you might read both Pride and Prejudice and the zombie version. (There are tons of other Austen-inspired books out there too.) Another idea would be a graphic novel version of a "standard" novel. The only real requirement is that the "inspired by" book must clearly state what original work inspired it.

Challenge 9: Same Word, Different Book (worth 2 entries)
Find two books that have the same word in the title. Read both books and write about them. (Worth 2 entries because you have to read two books).

Example: If you pick the word "Love," you could read any two books that both have Love in the title. To help you find books that have the same word, you could go to Amazon.com, type a word into the Search box and see what books come up with that word.

Challenge 10: Become A Character (worth 2 entries)
For this challenge, you can read any book you want. However, you have to write about the book as one of the characters from the book. The character can comment on his/her treatment by the author, other characters, the "untold story," what happened next, and so forth. You could even have two characters interviewing each other! Your imagination is the only limit. Because of the difficulty level of this challenge, it is worth two entries.

Challenge 11: All in the Family (worth 2 entries)
The writing gene often runs in the family. For this challenge, you need to find two authors from the same family (either by blood or by marriage) and read a book by each of the authors and then write about both books. Because of the research involved and having to read two books, this challenge is worth two entries.

Examples: The Bronte sisters; Stephen King and his wife Tabitha OR his son Joe Hill; Jonathan Kellerman (husband) and Faye Kellerman (wife); Michael Chabon (husband) and Ayelet Waldman (wife); Joan Didion (wife) and John Gregory Dunne (husband); Mary Higgins Clark (mother) and Carol Higgins Clark (daughter)

Challenge 12: Author Anthology Pick (worth 2 entries)
Find an anthology of your choice. Read at least 5 entries in the anthology. Of the 5 entries you've read, pick your favorite one and then find a book by that writer and read it. (If your first choice doesn't have a book, then pick your next favorite until you find a writer that has a book.) Write about the anthology, your favorite pick from the anthology, and the book you read by your favorite pick. Because of having to obtain and read two books, this challenge is worth two entries. Thanks to J.T. Oldfield at Bibliofreak who partially inspired this challenge.

Example: If you choose a poetry anthology, you would at least 5 different poems, pick your favorite, and then seek out a book of poetry by that poet. If you read a short story anthology, you would read at least 5 different short stories, pick your favorite, and then seek out either a novel or another book of short stories by that writer.

I'm dying to hear what you think about these challenges! I think they might be even harder than the previous challenge, but I'm really excited about the possibilities. I hope you are excited too. If you do a post about the challenge to announce your participation and help me promote it, you can gain an extra entry into the drawing. Simply link up that post in Mr. Linky below.

And remember, I'll be posting the places to link up your challenge entries on January 1, 2010 so look for them! Happy Reading and thanks for participating!