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Well, my rating of two stars looks quite low, but given the descriptions that Goodreads provides, I was unable to justify 3 stars ("I liked it"). Unfortunately, it was merely - in my opinion - OK. Goodreads suggests two stars for "it was ok", so that's what I gave. I don't know why I feel it so necessary to defend my rating, but I've gotten a lot of flak in the past over what people see as low ratings for books that they like (hello, "The Luminaries"!). Oh well. That's what ratings are for. If everybody gave out 5 stars, the site would be useless.

Anyway, now for the review. I was really hoping to like this book, especially after I read (and fell in love with) "Annabel" by Kathleen Winter. These are both Canada Reads 2014 finalists (I've just got three more to go!). Unfortunately, Cockroach just wasn't my kind of book. I didn't care for the characters. Sure, the main character was a delusional criminal, but I am not referring to his morality. The character just didn't seem REAL. I didn't care about anybody because they didn't seem human. The whole book is written in a style that I can't quite describe... it's not the brain-numbing, pseudo-intellectual, artsy style that I hated in The Luminaries. I felt that I was reading the work of a poet. The author was more interested in making his prose seem worthy of an award, not making a universe that actually existed, with living, breathing, dynamic characters. I recognized some of the streets and locations in the book (who doesn't love Montreal?), but that was the only dose of realism that I found.

Sorry, Rawi and lovers of the Cockroach, I just couldn't care about any of this book. It wasn't terrible, but it just wasn't for me.

I almost stopped reading this about three times. It is not an easy read - emotionally, not in terms of complexity. I am so glad I stuck through it. I felt so bad for Wayne right from the beginning, especially when the baby was described as not yet having any reason to mistrust anybody. I just knew that this would change in such a jarring way. I enjoyed reading through the discussion questions after the epilogue. I still can't answer many of the questions and will devote some time now to reading what others thought.

This is the first Canada Reads 2014 book that I have read (Cockroach is next), but the competition will have to be fierce to have a chance. I hope to have all of the books read by the time the competition starts.

EDIT (28 January 2013): OK, I finished this book almost two months ago. Since then, I've read all of the other Canada Reads finalists (with the exception of The Orenda, which I'm currently halfway through). After reading Half-Blood Blues, I thought that it might be a better book than Annabel. However, some time has gone by and Annabel is still in my thoughts. A book that sticks with you is a really powerful thing. There was one thing in this book that didn't (and still doesn't) sit well with me: the medically dubious event. If you've read the book, you will immediately know what I'm talking about. I don't want to spoil anything for people who haven't finished it, so I won't say anything more. However, despite that, the book is quite incredible. I don't know if I have enough emotional strength to reread it, but I'd love to go through it again as I had missed a lot of the symbolism (and know about these things thanks to people who write better reviews than I do!).

Having seen the movie (my favorite thriller of all time), I decided to read this before starting Doctor Sleep. Am I ever glad I did! The movie tells a completely different story! I would have been so confused with all of the references that Doctor Sleep makes to the first book. I haven't read Stephen King since high school, so I now respect him as the talented author he is. Absolutely amazing book.

This is one of my favorite detective books. I have never read any of J.K. Rowling's books (yeah, I know, I know) since I really don't like Young Adult stuff. However, I was so blown away by her writing style (she's really good) that I am dying for more.

I hope that she continues the Cormoran Strike series, as I'd love to see what else he can get into. Unfortunately, I'm not sure that she will, since it was sort of her way to write without a spotlight. Hopefully, she had another book on the way when this one was outed as hers.

I was entertained by the poor reviews of this book which were written by people who just don't like the author. Some people just resent those who are successful. Having read this, I can see why Rowling is a success. She's a fantastic author. I will give her other books a chance now.

Absolutely incredible. It builds up slowly, though, so you need to stick around for the ride. The last 5% of the book had my heart pounding. Half of me didn't want to read on, but it was far overpowered by the other half that was clinging to every word. Tremendously powerful.

The less you know about the book, the better. If you are reading this, stop now and just read the book instead.

I am now going to read something happier. Sophie Kinsella, here I come.

I am a huge fan of Wil Wheaton. Not from his Star Trek days, however, but from his boardgaming show on YouTube called Table Top. I jumped at the chance to read this to learn a bit more about him. Unfortunately, I didn't like the book as much as I had hoped. It wasn't a bad book in any way. It just wasn't great. According to GoodReads, 3 stars is "I liked it", which sums it up in a few words well.

What didn't I really like about it? Despite Wil's repeated claims to be a fantastic writer, none of his talent was on display here. The book is primarily blog posts (from over 10 years ago, when he admittedly was not a strong writer) with some newer commentary added in between. It is hard, I think, to show off strong writing skills in a biographical book like this - it's either full of errors or it's not. Had it been fiction, I think we'd get a far better taste of his self-proclaimed amazing prowess. EDIT: I just read an incredible blog post by Wil which really shows off his talent. Absolutely awesome: www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/4818010-with-an-aching-in-my-heart

Wil also repeatedly claims to be the best actor in numerous auditions, even though he was always passed over. I have seen him on Star Trek. He didn't seem like a gifted actor on that show, although he admits to "phoning it in" a lot and taking advantage of his fame when younger. As I read the book, I actually started to be torn between loving him for his work on Table Top and thinking he was delusional.

Wil complains more than once that he missed out on a particular job (on Win Ben Stein's Money) because they hired Jimmy Kimmel's cousin. He goes on and on about how this is unfair, yet he also complains numerous times that he was promised a role by his friend (who was the director), but they gave it, instead, to the person who was apparently a better fit. So Wil likes nepotism, but only when it favours him.

I'm horrified that Wil might actually read this one day. The one thing he did in his book that I loved was show complete honesty and raw vulnerability. He talks about how faceless trolls on the net made years of his life hell. I hate feeling that I'm contributing to that a bit, but I am trying to be honest. I think that his heart wasn't in acting. He feels that his heart is in writing, but I just can't see it - at least not given this material (I will check out the fiction that he was written). I am extremely glad for him (and the family which he supports - they sound awesome, by the way!) that he found Table Top, which is the perfect showcase for his magnetic personality. I'm glad I read this book, since I feel like I know him better than before. I would like to see the other books which followed this one.

Disclaimer: I received this book as part of the Goodreads "First Reads" program.

A short word before I get into my review. I understand that this book just isn't for me. It's longlisted for the Booker, Goodreads reviewers generally love it, the author is a real up-and-comer... but it just didn't do it for me.

I think it may have been unfortunate that I read this book so quickly after reading another that really blew me away (Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates), so I kept comparing them (even if I didn't want to or mean to) as I read this one. As a quick glance into my mindset, I'll post a comparison here and maybe you can understand why I just couldn't get into the book.

Both books included parts where people were looking into mirrors, as a way for the author to describe what drives these superficial, yet self-conscious, people.

One of my favorite passages from Revolutionary Road describes so much about the character in a single line: "He looked at himself in the mirror, tightening his jaw and turning his head a little to one side to give it a leaner, more commanding look, the face he had given himself in mirrors since boyhood and which no photograph had ever quite achieved..." Amazing. One glance in a mirror and we see how superficial and vulnerable this person is.

In The Luminaries, Catton describes a man looking into a mirror in this way. I find it to be terribly long-winded and boring:
"Moody was not unaware of the advantage his inscrutable grace afforded him. Like most excessively beautiful persons, he had studied his own reflection minutely and, in a way, knew himself from the outside best; he was always in some chamber of his mind perceiving himself from the exterior. He had passed a great many hours in the alcove of his private dressing room, where the mirror tripled his image into profile, half-profile and square: Van Dyck's Charles, though a good deal more striking. It was a private practice, and one he likely would have denied - for how roundly self-examination is condemned, by the moral prophets of our age! As if the self had no relation to the self, and one only looked in mirrors to have one's arrogance confirmed; as if the act of self-regarding was not as subtle, fraught and ever-changing as any bond between twin souls. In his fascination Moody sought less to praise his own beauty than to master it. Certainly whenever he caught his own reflection, in a window box, or in a pane of glass after nightfall, he felt a thrill of satisfaction - but as an engineer might feel, chancing upon a mechanism of his own devising and finding it splendid, flashing, properly oiled and performing exactly as he had predicted it should."

Wow. That's a mouthful that does two things: 1. describes how vulnerable he is via his superficial nature, just like the single line used by Yates, and 2. puts me to sleep. I like the bit about the engineer, it's a great line. That plus one other sentence would have been sufficient. But this book is filled with paragraphs upon paragraphs, pages upon pages, which could be cut out completely or at least shortened considerably. It's over 800 pages that could literally be used to fend off a home intruder. I worry that some young authors feel that they have to write a two-inch-thick saga in order to be taken seriously. I really struggled to read it and found that time was grinding to a halt. I read so I can relax and enjoy being swept away into another world. If this other world is so boring and tortuous that it makes me want to stop reading, it's just not worth it.

I obviously don't "get" the book. It's nothing against the author, who will have a long and fruitful career even though I didn't like what she wrote. I feel bad giving it one star, but given that this book made me dread the act of reading - something that I normally love - I really couldn't see any other alternative.

I fell in love with this book from the first page (second paragraph, I believe). The author has a gift of describing people's thoughts, and adding little disjointed bits of dialogue here and there, that is unlike anything I have ever read before. I absolutely hated every adult character in the book. They are all terrible people. Still, I felt sorry for them and their bitter, miserable lives, and could not wait to find out more about them. This very much reminds me of The Sound and Fury by William Faulkner and February by Lisa Moore: the book really made it possible to get into the minds of the people in the story, you don't just passively read a story about them.

This is not a happy book. It is not, however, a book that becomes preachy or beats you over the head with forced emotions, tugging at your heart until you break down. It is emotional, but in a very real way.

Absolutely amazing. It is easily one of the best three books I have ever read.

EDIT: Do not read any reviews or plot summaries before reading the book! If you are reading this without having finished Revolutionary Road, immediately stop what you are doing and pick up the book. Do not read more reviews. The book unfolds so well, it would really be a shame if it gets spoiled for you!

I had a bit of a hard time getting into the book. Maybe it was something with the way it was translated, or I just needed something in a different genre. So I read "A Clockwork Orange" and got back into this one. It pulled me in immediately. I thought I had everything figured out about four times (and was wrong every time). It was such a quick and enjoyable read that I wanted to give it 5 stars, but it wasn't as memorable or amazing as other books I've read, so a solid 4 stars it is!

I found the characters to be very three-dimensional and written in a way that, in some cases, completely tore down some stereotypes. I don't know if I could believe all of the characters, especially when the author made a junkie go from virtual zombie to likable skydiving aficionado within mere chapters.

The book kept up a quick pace and I blasted through it in no time (which, for me, is a sign that I really like it).