Told entirely in a series of notes left on the kitchen fridge—some casual, some intimate, some funny, some angry—it is the story of nine months in the life of 15–year-old Claire and her single mother. Preoccupied with their busy separate lives, rarely in the same room at the same time, they talk to each other in a series of short snippets that reflect the daily drama of school, boyfriends, work and chores that make up their days. Yet the mundane soon becomes extraordinary when a crisis overtakes their lives—a momentous change that will redefine their relationship and unfold in their exchanges on the refrigerator door.
My Review
I will be honest, i only picked this up because it looked very short and i had half an hour with nothing to do. The idea of a book written entirely by notes intrigued me, i couldn't see how you could get a whole story, feel for characters, setting etc, with just notes. Most pages had about 20 words on it, really short. However once i started reading it, i began to enjoy it. The notes were sometimes funny, other times you could tell the characters distress or anger. And i did get a feel of the two characters and their lives. Both separate and apart. The notes are the pairs only real way of communicating, they are both too busy to spend time together, but that doesn't mean they ignore each other, you get more feel for the stories happenings as you know they do spend some time together, for example some notes say "was nice to spend time with you last night, the movie was great, thanks" or something like that, which i think helps bring another dimension to the story. This story is definitely short but sweet, and amazingly considering there was not much content in the story i had made a connection with the characters and i cried at the end. I could see what was coming from about 20 pages in, but it still got to me. The way the notes were written, so much feeling and expression put in.
I feel this book sends the message that life isn't forever, so you need to make the most of what you have and who you have with you, don't take anyone or anything for granted. Although not the most cheerful message, it really makes you think.
I would have to say, it would be better to borrow this than to buy it, as it really is short, i finished it in 18 minutes! so isn't really good value for money, but definitely worth a read.
My Rating
I would give this book 4.5/10 i know that seems low, but i don't think i would read it again. I really enjoyed it this time, but think it would have lost it's sparkle by the second read. So i say try it, read it, enjoy it. But not worth a repeat.
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