Rate this book

Girls Fall Down (2004)

by Maggie Helwig(Favorite Author)

3.21 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

1552451968 (ISBN13: 9781552451960)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Coach House Books

review 1: After a trip to Toronto, I went on a little Canadian reading spree, and Helwig’s book is one of my favorites from that spree. It’s a story with three parts, that don’t seem to fit together. First there’s Alex, a photographer losing his sight to diabetic complications. Before his sight is gone, he combs the city to capture his vision of Toronto. He encounters an old girlfriend, combing the city in search of her missing schizophrenic brother. This is set against the backdrop of people fainting in the subways, after they perceive some unidentifiable smell – terrorism... or collective delusion? The novel is quiet and captivating, rather than flashy and arresting. You get a sense of sharply observed details adding up to a hazy outline, as though you are looking at the... more bigger picture through fog. Clearly, I find it hard to explain what is so appealing about this story, but it definitely adds up to something greater than the sum of its parts.
review 2: I really wanted to love this book. I liked the idea and loved that it was so Toronto focused. Unfortunately in making this book Toronto focused also saw its downfall. Writing about the city and it's landmarks and streets took over the book and seriously distracted from the actual story. You ended up just hearing about the streets they were on and not what was happening. It didn't help that I just couldn't care about the main character. I wish I could have loved it and finished it. less

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