Someone Else's Love Story

An inspiring story about the intersection between faith and science and how the answers to life are staring at us at all times. A book I wish I had written! ( )

cute and overwritten faith and family exploration

alternative romantic comedy - Asperger's/Autistic scientist saves lives of single mom and child in Atlanta minimart robbery gone awry, but that is only where the story begins. ( )

Overwrought, at times, but with a slightly unexpected twist near the end and some beautiful figurative language. I did enjoy reading this "love story." ( )

Shandi and William meet in a Circle K holdup. William saves the life of Shandi's three-year-old son, and Shandi falls in love. Madly. What follows is a backstory-driven exploration of the ties that bind us all--to each other, to the past, to our individual "blind spots" and dysfunctions.

This is one of those books whose review I could easily portion into good, bad, and ugly. In fact, I might as well.

First and foremost, the good--the best--is of course Jackson's lovely voice. Her words, sentences, paragraphs are woven so wonderfully. I've read most of her novels despite a general dislike for chick lit (literary or otherwise), because the voices of her characters never fail to pull me in. Shandi and William didn't fail in this, either. They're human in their issues and insecurities, though Shandi's immaturity is often hard to sympathize with. Some of the secondary characters are worth noting here as well, particularly William's lifetime friend Paula and Shandi's genius son Natty.

The first third of the book takes place over the course of a few hours and narrates the holdup in minute-to-minute detail. It's an unusual choice for this genre, but it worked for me. The ordeal is absorbing and reveals intriguing things about both Shandi and William.

Then ... "The Bad." The story involves endless, detailed backstory on the protagonists' sexual histories. Sure, more happens than just sex, but it seems more of a preoccupation in this book than in any of Jackson's others, as if the sex is more important than the characters.

However, I still planned on a three-star rating--until the last thirty pages ("The Ugly"), which reveals how many ways Jackson cheated/lied to her readers throughout the book. One character conveniently "mishears" vital information. Another character conveniently doesn't think about certain facts (for three hundred pages!) in order to hide them from the reader. This is not an honest twist; this is a cheat. I respect Joshilyn Jackson as an author and felt disrespected by her as a reader.

To anyone who felt the same way about this book, do try another of this author's works (especially [b:Between, Georgia|241969|Between, Georgia|Joshilyn Jackson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1402260376s/241969.jpg|1345521] and [b:The Girl Who Stopped Swimming|1266297|The Girl Who Stopped Swimming|Joshilyn Jackson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328655335s/1266297.jpg|546698]). Her character voices are wonderful, and her character psychology is engaging, and I'll most likely read her next book hoping for better than this one. ( )