Could have been a decent book but it was just too much. Too long, too descriptive, too pretentious. Could have cut 30% out by removing half the over the top metaphors and useless references. I liked the book at the beginning but very quickly started skimming for dialogue only. ( )

Kind of convoluted and boring in the middle; I skimmed a lot. ( )

What to say about this book? Maybe the best thing to say is I rated it two stars because I liked it but only in the sense that I didn't absolutely hate it.

Having read Pessl's [b:Night Film|18770398|Night Film|Marisha Pessl|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1397425352s/18770398.jpg|15182838] before I read this, I did notice a pattern of open-endedness to her work. Many things left unanswered by the author so that the reader's own mind fills in the blanks. But where Night Film offered up identifiable characters that I felt connected to, thus, making me want to fill in the blanks, I was just left not caring enough about Blue or anyone else in Special Topics to bother thinking that hard about it. ( )

What to say about this book? Maybe the best thing to say is I rated it two stars because I liked it but only in the sense that I didn't absolutely hate it.

Having read Pessl's [b:Night Film|18770398|Night Film|Marisha Pessl|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1397425352s/18770398.jpg|15182838] before I read this, I did notice a pattern of open-endedness to her work. Many things left unanswered by the author so that the reader's own mind fills in the blanks. But where Night Film offered up identifiable characters that I felt connected to, thus, making me want to fill in the blanks, I was just left not caring enough about Blue or anyone else in Special Topics to bother thinking that hard about it. ( )

I liked Blue, the main character, because she was extraordinary. I don't aim to read about people like ourselves, living ordinary, everyday lives- I read to have adventures. For right now, when I am the same age as Blue, it was lovely to see her senior year unfold, to read about something so fantastically implausible.
It was not a perfect book. I found Pessl's style hard to adjust to, so I spent the first few chapters feeling like I should put down this book and go read a classic. But eventually Blue's obsessive citing grew on me. Her narration was entirely in character, as she tried to categorize and organize the experiences she had, just like her father organized his life into college semesters.
I also felt pity for most of the characters at the end. There was not a single character that was not pathetic at some point in the book. But this also reflects life, and was valuable for that. I liked this book; it has earned a place on my shelf. ( )