The Year of Fog

I'm currently reading The Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond. This book was actually not recommended to me. I noticed it on the kitchen table at a friend's house several weeks ago, read the inside flap, thought it sounded interesting, and asked her about it. Her roommate had actually checked it out and decided not to read it. So...I'm not sure if I should have assumed that was the opposite of a recommendation or what. I checked it out.

The story is interesting - it's about a woman who loses her fiance's daughter while walking on a beach one foggy day. The little girl walks ahead for a few seconds and disappears.

The book is well-written with lots of good description. Have you read "New Moon", the second book in the Twilight series? If you have, you probably remember the chapters that are each only one page; the pages say OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, DECEMBER, JANUARY. It's an inventive way of showing the passing of time and how unimportant it is to Bella at that time in her life. The author of this book does something similar - she gets into the mind of the woman telling the story and how her days are spent and what trivial things occupy her thoughts during several difficult months.

But in my opinion, she creates a whole bunch of extra stuff that I'm tempted to skim over. To me, the book is slow-moving and I keep waiting for it to get to a specific point mentioned on the inside flap.

One other issue I have with this story - and it's quite minor compared to some of the other books I've read - but still, what's with the sex? It doesn't change the story, it doesn't help the plot move along, it's just extra and I don't want to read about it. I have a hard time recommending a book to friends and family with questionable scenes in them. Honestly.

Now that you know how I really feel - ha ha.