last summer, during my total short story fixation, i read The Unknown Errors of Our Lives, also by Divakaruni—it’s probably one of my favorite collections, so i was curious to read something else by her.

this novel is such a well-spun story, each chapter just barely resolving, strongly pulling into the subsequent chapter. ceasing to read became a very purposeful action. the chapters alternate points of view of two cousins who are, some people think, unnaturally close. the alternating is done so well—their voices are so unique but still tied in to each other that the story doesn’t jolt between them. the full ensemble of characters are dynamic and everything is nicely focused. there are no loose bits of extraneous information or description here.

usually i can figure out where everything is going beforehand, at least at some point before it happens, but there was at least one part that totally got me. the ending leaves off a little abruptly, but i wonder if there is really story left for the sequel.