29th
“paint it black.”
I recently finished reading the novel, “Paint it Black” by Janet Fitch. The story focuses on Josie Tyrell, a young and troubled girl whose boyfriend, Michael, commits suicide. As she struggles to understand Michael’s sudden death, she develops a tumultuous relationship with his mother, Meredith.
Although the story had potential to be interesting, it fell flat. I was annoyed by the main character’s complaints and shortcomings, and kept reading the novel in the hopes that something would actually happen. Yet, I made it to the last page and felt that I wasted my time reading the book. The author’s writing style was so overly descriptive and wordy that I found myself thinking of other things (like things I needed to do that day) instead of appreciating the author’s message. I previously read Janet Fitch’s other novel, “White Oleander,” and found it a bit more appealing. However, her range of topics seems to be quite limited to lost, young girls who do nothing but complain of their “difficult” lives. This novel was proclaimed as being “fresh, riviting, and real,” yet I found it to be nothing of the sort. I would not recommend this book to anyone, unless you like the typical, woe-is-me feminist novels that are so often on the market today.
