Audrey Niffenegger
Her Fearful Symmetry

Review Brought to you by OBS staff member Erin

It started out beautifully. There was a wonderful amount of history, and the back story felt real. There were details that paralleled each other in a way that felt significant, and made me wonder where this was going; not in a confused way, but in that excited way that keeps you up all night reading.

Unfortunately, the end couldn’t keep the promise of the beginning. Around the last 40 pages or so, the story takes a sharp turn. Not in the “what a twist!” sort of way, but in a way that was completely out of character for the people involved. I’ll try to avoid spoilers as best as I can, but one character made a comment about another, saying they had always acted one way…despite the fact that every other description of that person made a point to say the exact opposite. Other details that were repeated often (the ones that felt like they were going somewhere really interesting) petered out into disappointed resolutions. I’m not sure if Niffenegger decided she didn’t like the ending she had been working toward, but it felt completely disjointed to the previous few hundred pages. One of the questions hinted at near the beginning was answered, but it had been blown out of proportion. Over all it’s well written, but the story didn’t live up to it’s potential.