The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Three stars and I am being nice. The basic plot of the novel is that Theo Decker’s mother dies in a terrorists bombing when he is a teenager. Theo then floats through life trying to make emotional connections with various people and suffering the consequences of positive and negative relationships.
While the writing is good, something about the narrative never grabbed me. I never truly felt connected to Theo in his search for a life after tragedy. For me it was a long book to suffer through in this way—never really invested in the main character.
Additionally, there were too many “coincidences” along the way that made me skeptical of the book. Theo just happens to find people are the right time…. umm… okay.
The final few pages of the book turned me off completely. I won’t give away the ending. But once the plot is reveled, the author goes on a multi-page rant about the pointlessness of human action….. I am not against her theme— but does she really think readers are SOOO dumb we need a cliff notes explanation at the end of the novel?
So why 3 stars and not too… I didn’t HATE it. It just never clicked with me. We read the book for my book club and lots of women in the group liked it. It just never hooked me and it is NOT a book I will be thinking about for years, days or even minutes to come. Nothing about it lingers.
The Booky Mom 
Good review! I actually gave it a 2.5/5. You’re right though, nothing in the book really grabbed my attention or particularly stood out. It was a bit long and I honestly feel there was too much hype about it.
Dee, Did you ever read her other book? I recall hearing about it years ago and I have friends who liked it and have recommended it…. but I am scared to try it. Don’t want to waste my time.
“The Secret History”? Yea actually, I don’t recommend it. I think we should’ve read that before the Goldfinch… but I picked it up with all the bias from the Goldfinch. So, all in all I’m glad to tell you- don’t waste your time! 🙂