I actually think this is a 2.5er - but that's just because I can't bear to give one of my favorite authors a truly bad review. And yet I can't feel anything other than disappointment about this book. It feels tossed off, messy, and distinctly lacking in the things that make Patchett such a beautiful writer. The plot is predictable and cloying, the characters mostly one-dimensional, there are quite a number of strange loose ends that make it feel like she just cobbled together various story elements she couldn't find an entire book in to make a mash-up of sorts, and (being a Boston boy) the attempted conversation about race and religion and politics that tries to raise its head now and then is laughable. A sober and stark dissection of the book is available at Raging Biblioholism: http://t.co/DhwM5gVO
