Author: Francisco X. Stork
Published: Arthur A. Levine Books, 2012
Pages: 288
Summary: TWO SISTERS: Kate is bound for Stanford and an M.D. -- if her family will let her go. Mary wants only to stay home and paint. When their loving but repressive father dies, they must figure out how to support themselves and their mother, who is in a permanent vegetative state, and how to get along in all their uneasy sisterhood.
THREE YOUNG MEN: Then three men sway their lives: Kate's boyfriend Simon offers to marry her, providing much-needed stability. Mary is drawn to Marcos, though she fears his violent past. And Andy tempts Kate with more than romance, recognizing her ambition because it matches his own.
ONE AGONIZING CHOICE: Kate and Mary each find new possibilities and darknesses in their sudden freedom. But it's Mama's life that might divide them for good -- the question of *if* she lives, and what's worth living for. (Taken from Goodreads)
Thoughts: Irises is a depressing
novel. The entire time I was reading
this book I could feel the cold and sombre tones seeping through the pages and
into my psyche. It left me feeling a
little gloomy in all honesty.
One thing that bothered me about
this book is that I felt like the characters acted in such a strange and
unrealistic way. I mean, yeah, grief
does strange things to people but it wasn’t just Mary and Kate who acted
strangely. I just felt like the
decisions some of the characters made were so weird.
I feel as though there were
things missing from the ending, like it didn’t give full closure. There’s no sense of how much time has passed
since the epilogue and not everything was given a resolution or explanation when
they were considered to be main plot points, I found that a little awkward
really.
Overall, I thought that Irises
was a well-written book but I feel as though it just wasn’t for me. I think I’m growing out of contemporary
fiction and so while I can appreciate this novel for what it was, I just didn’t
enjoy it as much as someone else who loves contemporary fiction would.
Source: AudiobookSync