Book Review: I See You Everywhere

Pinkflipflops started a bloggers book club last month and our first selection was "I See You Everywhere" by Julia Glass. I must sheepishly say that I was the one who suggested this book. Why am I sheepish about this? Well, because I did not like the book. At all. It has such potential, though. The author also wrote "Three Junes" which was the winner of the National Book Award. Since she hit such a home run with that book, I assumed this one would be a winner as well. Wrongo batman.


I was drawn to this book by the blurb on the back (as usual). According to the blurb, the book was about the parallel lives of two sisters - and their tenuous relationship. I am sort of drawn to books that discuss the relationship between sisters or the mother/daughter relationship. Especially if I get the feeling that the book does not romanticize the relationship. Don't get me wrong - I have great relationships with my mom and sisters, but they are imperfect relationships. So I like books that accurately portray there complex and sometimes complicated relationships.

This book did a pretty good job of it, but I just could not get into the book at all. And don't even get me started on the ending - which I HATED. I can almost hear my mom saying, "Hate is a strong word, Lisa." Yes, yes it is. And it's totally applicable in this situation.

Anyways, even though I didn't care for the book, there were a few good sections that I tagged. Oh, and I got a little bit of teasing for my book tagging at my book club last month. I'm kind of obsessed with those post-it tape-like tags. I am sure I look like a professor when I read on the bus. And I dress like one too most days of the week so I am fairly certain that my fellow bus riders think I work at the University of St Thomas. But whatevs. I'm totally ok with being mistaken for a professor.

So here are some of the sections I tagged:

• Ever notice how sisters, when they aren't best friends, make particularly vicious enemies? (p. 7) (if you are a girl and you have a sister, this quote should resonate with you. Sister to sister fights can be downright vicious.)
• My one real boyfriend in college, just before we broke up, told me I'm nostalgic to a fault. (p. 1)
• I'd rather be pleasantly surprised than fatally disappointed. (p. 90)
• To him, silence is never a threat. I'm not like that; I want to be asked and told, praised, cajoled, or bellowed at. Where there are words, there are definitions. Definitions help contain the chaos. Ray once said that the way I lean on language makes me fascinating but also makes me uptight, ties me in knots. I take people too literally, he says. (p. 171)

Here's hoping that if my suggested selection wins in the future, it's better than this one.

Next month we are going to read a classic, though. The selection is Pride & Prejudice. I have read this before but plan on re-reading it. Jane Austen is such an amazing writer and I can't wait to re-read this book. Want to join our blogger book club? Go to Pinkflipflop's blog! She posts discussion questions throughout the month.