When I saw this come up in an email from my e-bookstore, I downloaded it immediately. I didn't read anything about it; hadn't heard anything about it; had no expectations whatsoever. Well, that's not true....since it was by the author of The Time Traveler's Wife, I just knew it would be imaginative, complex and fascinating. Right? Well....not so much.

The author is an elegant writer, and she does characterization very well. I had vivid images of all the main characters. I could also "see" the flats, the cemetery and the Postman's park from her descriptions.

It has suddenly come to me is that part of my problem with the book was that it didn't seem to have a clear center. Certainly a great story could have centered on Martin, the neighbor with OCD. I found the stories about Highgate cemetery to be fascinating and would have enjoyed a story surrounding the historian Robert and perhaps bringing in more tales of the people buried there.

We really only began to know Elspeth once she had died, and readers weren't really encouraged to warm to her. The twins were sort of unformed. There could have been much more made from the "mirror" twins theme that was completely ignored. Why even bring it up? Julia was supposed to be the more decisive and forceful of the 2 but was completely dependent and paralyzed by inertia. Valentina was supposed to be the more fearful and retiring and yet she had a concrete plan for her own adult life and independence. Her "solution" to help break free made no sense at all in any way shape or form and the book pretty much derailed for me at that point. The ending was abrupt and non-sensical and made me want to throw my eReader across the room....except that might break it and there are other, hopefully better, books still on it for me to read.

While I recommend The Time Traveler's Wife to every avid reader I know, I really would not recommend this book to anyone. Pity. ( )

You see that summary up there? Yup, that one. Unless you’re really into stories, to the point where you want to know what a character ate for breakfast, there is really no reason to read Her Fearful Symmetry because that summary about says it all. And it’s disappointing. In all honesty, I expected a ghost story, not in the ‘there’s a ghost hanging around’ type story, a ghost story – the semi-spooky kind. Knowing the authors past work, I was a little apprehensive about it, but I figure she could have branched out and I was so hyped for Her Fearful Symmetry, I was also so disappointed.

My biggest issue with Her Fearful Symmetry is that to me it was being promoted as a ghost story, a spooky/scary/what-have-you ghost story, as the synopsis lead me to believe that there is a ghost but only MAYBE is it their aunt – not that it absolutely without a doubt is – which you learn in the first couple chapters that it is. Personally that right there takes out a lot of the interest to me, Her Fearful Symmetry is less of a ghost story and more of a coming of age story with a supernatural twist. The biggest draw to finish the book was the secret between Elspeth and Edie, and once that is learned, I was close to the end I figured I might as well finish it. The twist in the book (because isn’t there always one?) was predictable, I was able to guess that it was going to happen about half way through the book, it was a gut feeling.

Having said that though, it wasn’t a complete waste of time, I did enjoy the imagery and the dynamic between the characters. Whether Audrey’s version of London really exists is beyond me as I’ve never been out of the U.S. however it’s certainly clear in my mind. I can see the building where the twins lived, their flat as well as the cemetery and the little alley between the two. I can clearly see both of the twins, Robert, Martin, and Elspeth. Although, through it all the only characters I could actually bring myself to care about were Julia and Valentina, and I think that’s merely because I have a sister who I’m extremely close with. I felt bad for Robert in the end, and eventually Elspeth, but that was more because of the hole/rut the had dug themselves into, not because they deserved it.

Overall it was a slightly entertaining story, although it did take me a while to read. There wasn’t really any arc to me where I had to sit back and think and go ‘Wow’, and I certainly didn’t expect the secret between Edie and Elspeth to be what it was. Even so, it majorly confused me since you figure it out about 3/4th of the way through the book and everything has already happened, it takes time (or it did for me) to sort things out. I liked the characters, and the story itself, although for the most part it felt flat. There are certain authors whose books I won’t read, such as Jodi Picoult and Nicholas Sparks, because they have the habit of writing the same story over and over again and people end up losing more than they ever gain, and I’m afraid Audrey Niffenegger might have just been added to that list. Personally, I don’t want to read a book that is completely depressing, and as I told Daisy, if I wanted to read/hear about a sad story, I’d turn on the news. ( )

This board if full of plot summaries for Her Fearful Symmetry. They are very well done and tell you everything you need to know. I consider this to be well written, but there are some plot points I struggle with. There are a few things that are just too vague and ambiguous. I'm going to head over to a discussion group to try to wade through some of it.

This book made me question a lot of things in my own life. Some of the sentences in the opening pages really resonated with me, although they didn't actually have much to do the the overall plot. Having recently lost my grandfather, I have been thinking a lot about the afterlife.

Some thought-provoking lines: "Marijke suddenly saw the cemetery as an old theatre: the same play was still running, but the costumes and hairstyles had been updated." When a loved one passes away we typically feel like no one else has ever experienced such a thing. I began to see funerals and death from the perspective of the cemetery.

"He felt that some sort of exchange was about to take place: he would give Elspeth to the cemetery, and the cemetery would give him…what, he didn’t know. Surely there must be something." It does seem a bit unfair that we give something beloved to us to the grave, but we get nothing in return.

And finally, "A bad thing about dying is that I’ve started to feel as though I’m being erased. Another bad thing is that I won’t get to find out what happens next.” I often wonder just what my legacy will be. I don't have children (yet..ever..?)and I feel that when I die, only my husband will truly mourn me.

I would recommend this to others, if only for the chance to really mull over your own life. ( )

Gawd. The head hopping is doing my head in. ( )

While the ending left me a little frustrated, Her Fearful Symmetry was overall a great read. Audrey Niffenegger has a way of drawing you into with complicated characters and great storytelling. Some people have been put off by the decisions of some of the characters, but I feel that is what makes them believable ... they aren't perfect. ( )