Review for "History of Wolves" by Emily Fridlund (2017) Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Didn’t like this book, which is odd because it has really high ratings on Goodreads. Did we read the same book? Or am I just being a Negative Nancy again? Hmm…
Here we have a character with three names (Linda, Mattie, Madeline) depending on what part of the story you’re reading. She’s a 14-year-old girl in a rural Minnesota town with a lot of deep thoughts, none of which left an impression on me. She babysits for a very weird couple with a young son, and a series of events occur between her and this couple that left me wondering if her relationship with the Gardners was really real at all or just some symbolism that I was supposed to be connecting to the whole ‘wolf’ theme of the book. Either way, the tone here is detached, and Linda/Mattie/Madeline is far too cerebral and disengaging for me to get into.
There is a subplot in this story involving a teacher at Linda/Mattie/Madeline’s school who’s accused of having sex with a student. This plot has absolutely NOTHING to do with the rest of the book. As interesting as this story is, it never goes anywhere or connects to the main story. Why was it here? Maybe I missed something?
Oh yeah, the ending is weird too. I’ve watched a lot of David Lynch movies, so maybe it was supposed to mean something too. I don’t know.
(*sigh*)
[Note: A free digital copy of this book was provided by the publisher, Grove Atlantic, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
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