[Heads You Lose] by [Lisa Lutz]

Heads You Lose tells the story of Paul and Lacey Hansen. They are pot grower who find a headless body in their yard and are afraid to call the police. So they move the body, and it comes up again. They begin their investigation involving some odd characters in a small town.

The characters personalities change from chapter to chapter, events happen out of the blue, and it is otherwise a disappointing mystery.

But that isn't what the book is about.

The book is about the authors. Formerly a couple, who decided to co-auther a book. They are strictly hands-off for what the other person creates, well, sort of. The rules are they alternate chapters and do not undo or strongly change what the other has written. But they threaten each other, they mess with each other's characters, and the banter makes the book!

Each chapter indicates which author wrote that chapter, a saving grace! I constantly referred to the header to see whose chapter this was, the writing author was in a normal font, the other was slightly grayed.

Each chapter ends with a letter from the chapter author and a return from the other. The authors leave footnote comments on the other's work. This is what drives the book. This is the real plot. It is funny, occasionally laugh-out-lout hilarious. The book is worth the read and is time well spent.

Ironically, it also feels like the book could have been a lot more. After finishing, I don't feel like I needed more, the material was covered and its done.

Heads You Lose is still a good book and well worth the read.

I like it though

Ironically, it also feels like the book could have been a lot more. After finishing, I don't feel like I needed more, the material was covered and its done.

read very awkward. You seem to be contradicting yourself between the 2 sentences.

Oh, good point.

I rewrote that paragraph as:

Ironically, it also feels like the book could have been a lot more. After finishing, I don't feel like these authors have much more to offer, the material was covered and its done.

Does that work better?

yes, but it's still weird. maybe expanding what 'more' the book could have been?

I agree with readafew. The sentences are too contradictory. Could it have been more or no?

In the 1st paragraph, 2nd sentence, 'pot growers' should be plural.

1st paragraph, 3rd sentence: 'Comes up' is a funny phrase. What about 'turns up' or 'shows up'?

1st paragraph, 4th sentence (I'm sorry. I promise this won't be a sentence-by-sentence thing). You might want to add 'own' to the sentence: They begin their own investigation... That might just be me though.

2nd paragraph: 'characters' should have an apostrophe s.

3rd paragraph, I think the first two sentences should be combined. As it is now, the second sentence feels incomplete.

I started a new job and haven't been able to get back to this....

Ok, I'm still having difficulty with those contradictory sentences. What I want to say is that I expected more from the book. I think they could have carried it further and told it better. However, given what I read, I don't think these two people could do it. I feel that this is their limit.

--after a few minutes...--

I think I have some progress now. :)

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Heads You Lose tells the story of Paul and Lacey Hansen. They are pot grower who find a headless body in their yard and are afraid to call the police. So they move the body, then later, it turns up in their yard again. They begin their own investigation involving some odd characters in a small town.

The characters' personalities change from chapter to chapter, events happen out of the blue, and it is otherwise a disappointing mystery.

But that isn't what the book is about.

The book is about the authors, formerly a couple, and now have decided to co-auther a book. They are strictly hands-off for what the other person creates, well, sort of. The rules are they alternate chapters and do not undo or strongly change what the other has written. But they threaten each other, they mess with each other's characters, and the banter makes the book!

Each chapter indicates which author wrote that chapter, a saving grace! I constantly referred to the header to see whose chapter this was, the writing author was in a normal font, the other was slightly grayed.

Each chapter ends with a letter from the chapter author and a return from the other. The authors leave footnote comments on the other's work. This is what drives the book. This is the real plot. It is funny, occasionally laugh-out-lout hilarious. The book is worth the read and is time well spent.

Ironically, it also feels like the book could have been a lot more. There seemed to be a lot of potential in the author's conflict, I was looking for more to happen. After finishing, I don't feel like these authors had much more to contribute.

Despite this misgiving, Heads You Lose is still a good book and well worth the read.

#6 - What I want to say is that I expected more from the book. I think they could have carried it further and told it better. However, given what I read, I don't think these two people could do it. I feel that this is their limit.

That explains a lot. Maybe work exactly that into your review. Like so:

Ironically, it also feels like the book could have been a lot more. There seemed to be a lot of potential in the author's conflict. However, given what I read, I don't think these two people could do it. I feel that they reached their limit.

Hmm, I missed this over the summer. Although late, I like your comments, Jseger9000. I'll definitely update the summary with your paragraph.

I need to learn to write like that! :)

Thanks.

#8 - I need to learn to write like that!

You did. I just did some copy and paste;)

If only I could edit like that! ;-)

Thanks. :)