Saturday, October 29, 2011

Book Review: Lamb by Bonnie Nadzam

Title: Lamb
Author: Bonnie Nadzam
Genre: Novel
Subject: Relationships
Publisher: Other Press
Release date: September, 2011
Length: 275 pages
I got this book: From the publisher for review through NetGalley

Summary:
From Goodreads:
"Lamb traces the self-discovery of David Lamb, a narcissistic middle aged man with a tendency toward dishonesty, in the weeks following the disintegration of his marriage and the death of his father. Hoping to regain some faith in his own goodness, he turns his attention to Tommie, an awkward and unpopular eleven-year-old girl. Lamb is convinced that he can help her avoid a destiny of apathy and emptiness, and even comes to believe that his devotion to Tommie is in her best interest. But when Lamb decides to abduct a willing Tommie for a road trip from Chicago to the Rockies, planning to initiate her into the beauty of the mountain wilderness, they are both shaken in ways neither of them expects.
Lamb is a masterful exploration of the dynamics of love and dependency that challenges the boundaries between adolescence and adulthood, confronts preconceived notions about conventional morality, and exposes mankind’s eroded relationship with nature."

Personal opinion:
It has been a few weeks since I read this book and I am still not sure what to think about it or how I want to rate it. To be honest this book really creeped me out, yet I couldn't stop reading. I had to know that Tommie would be okay. The author of this book is constantly pushing the border between what is morally acceptable and how that line is different for everyone. I have read books about abuse in the past but this book is so much scarier because I got a taste of what is going on in this persons head while in the other books I read, it is mostly the child who tells the story. I wouldn't say it is a bad book, because it isn't. It is just so shocking to me, I don't know what to think and I am basically really grossed out by this book still. The thing that I really wanted to know doesn't get answered. And that is the question if Tommie is okay years after this happened. It would have been nice if there was a chapter on how she was doing a few years down the line. Now all we can do is guess. I think this book is only for a very select audience that can handle a heavy subject like this. I surely wished I wouldn't have read it because it still haunts me like a horror story.

Purchase links: Amazon
Other reviews: None yet
If you have reviewed this book and want your link here, please leave a comment with the link, and I will add it :)

1 comment:

  1. Once you suspend disbelief you can return to reality. I think that you will recover nicely!

    ReplyDelete