Like the Red Panda (Harvest Book)

A masterfully written examination of teenage depression, done with dry humor and a delicate hand. The characters are often inscrutable and alienating, but compelling nonetheless.

I greatly enjoyed many of the lines and situations written in this book, and the prose was easy to digest. The characters were frustratingly unsympathetic and inscrutable, however. I'm interested in reading Siegel's next novel to see if some of the problems I found resolve themselves in later work, but not so interested that I've bothered to pick it up yet. Mostly I spent this novel page turning quickly to see what wildly improbable thing might happen or be said next. I have to say, I enjoyed it more while thinking of the storyline as an absurd spectacle than as a real narrative, especially with the ballsy ending.

This book definitely had its moments but overall I felt like it was all over the place. A book about teen suicide is a hard subject to breech because it is a very sensitive and overdone topic. Stella had this weird and unnerving just lack of emotion throughout most of the book. The fact that she rarely if ever showed interest in life, despite the things she had going for her, college and sort-of boyfriend, got very old. It was interesting to see and hear things from her point of view and some of the observations were interesting and funny. But overall, it was merely okay. Not a showstopper, and definitely glad it was a library read. It's hard to leave this book not feeling slightly let down.

I really love this book. Dark, funny, cleverly written-- teenage chick lit reflected in a scary fun house mirror.

Stella is 17, very smart, and very alone. The big tragedy in her life happened when she was 11 and has shaped everything about her and around her since that time. A dark and brutally honest story of teenagers in today's society.

This was not an easy book for me to read. Stella is two weeks away from graduating at the top of her high school class. She however has other plans: committing suicide.
Although parts of this book were very funny, and Stella’s wry observations of high school life were on target, for the most part the book did nothing for me. While at times I felt some sympathy for Stella and her difficult life, in general I didn’t like her much and thought she was whining just a little too much for me. Many of the characters in this book were not well fleshed out, and I found the character of Ainsley, Stella’s erstwhile friend, to be the most intriguing character in the book.
The author of this book is only 23 years old, and I think this is an show more author to keep an eye on. With some more maturity in her character development I think she will become a very gifted writer. show less