BOOK REVIEW (50): Equilibrium

BOOK REVIEW:

Equilibrium

I don’t read too much women’s fiction, mostly because it’s got too much life in it and it’s dreary. Not that life is necessarily a downer -- just that this genre produces heavy, slow reads in terms of pacing.

But I wanted to read Lorrie Thomson’s Equilibrium since its 2013 release because it looked like an interesting book. What drew me in was the POV switch between mother and daughter. What kept me reading were the ups and downs each faced around their new relationships, and their navigation of life without their husband/father.

I didn’t always like Laura Klein or her teen daughter, Darcy. Laura could be annoying in her unspoken assessment of others and though genuinely I found it realistic, on the other hand I’m used to fiction – like category romance – where what you see is typically what you get in a character. For instance, I thought Laura disliked her bubbly friend, Elle…but she doesn’t. She just gave me an initial impression that she didn’t appreciate how the other woman-slash-neighbour popped in and made herself at home.

Darcy was also kinda an irritating character to follow, and perhaps more so as she’s a hormonal teenager who doesn’t know how to handle her father’s suicide. And no, that’s not a spoiler. It’s obvious AND readers find out from the start. No one pussyfoots around it. At least not entirely. Some characters are pretty blunt. *cough*Aidan*cough*

Both Klein women also have romantic subplots, because nothing says moving on like meeting a man and having that new-found “love connection” be threatened by the irrational idea of betraying an old (dead) love. NOTE: the novel begins at the almost one year anniversary of Jack Klein, Darcy’s father and Laura’s husband’s suicide.

I liked Troy. I kinda wish that he got a perspective just because I loved that he was this combo of “jock-nerd”. He was adorkable! But he was young too, I think 13-14 to Darcy’s 17, and I couldn’t imagine he would have much to say. Unlike Darcy he was a straightforward kid. Mostly he told it as it was, one of those blunt characters along with Elle, Laura’s gregarious friend.

Overall it’s a decent book once you got over the pacing, and the lengthy prose… I did love the ending. I’m a sucker for HFN (or HEAs), so I was happy considering the bleak start. So pick it up if you have the desire for women’s fiction.

My verdict:

✮✮✮.5

(3.5 stars)