Tagged with absent mothers

At first I was dazzled by Toews’ clever and funny language and her decreasingly subtle but accurate depiction of adolescent depression. Eventually it started to wear on me, though. It’s the same thing that annoys me about Jasper Fforde: the cleverness is relentless. But, I still think this book will appeal to people who like reading about religious sects (the protagonist comes from a Mennonite family and town), enjoy women coming-of-age stories, or who can handle a lot of clever. Also--Look at the cover closely; it’s as perfect a match to a novel’s contents as I’ve ever seen. Kudos to Kelly Hill, designer.