"The Weird Sisters" By Eleanor Brown

I have read a lot of books in my days. I started with "ABCs for Dummies" when I was a kid and kept on going.  My husband, in his own loving way, would describe me as a nerd through and through.  He is terribly afraid that our son will follow in my footsteps, but I love it. Reading is an escape. It's therapy for the poor- or rich if you don't visit the public library as I do.  So, since reading books is something I value in my day-to-day life, I've decided to start a new blog and dedicate it to books. Books I've read, books I want to read, books I wish I had never read at all (Jodi Piccoult, I'm looking at you.) Until I can think of a clever new name for my new book minded blog, I'm going to post them here for all my loyal readers to judge.

"The Weird Sisters" is about, well, three sisters that actually aren't really that weird at all.  The "tag" line, as it were, is "See, we love each other. We just don't like each other very much." Which, really, defines a lot of families these days. 

The novel starts slow and never really gains momentum.  The characters are introduced and defined in a painstakingly lackadaisical manner. About half way through the reader finally knows everyone and the story tries to take off.  It sputters around for a long while, but never gets off the ground. 

Rosalind is the oldest- the perfectionist.  She is take charge and make no apologies.  It's hard to believe that anyone would be this severe with their grown siblings.  I am the oldest and I know there are times when I am a bit forceful with my younger sister, but I don't think it is to the extreme that Rose is portrayed. 

Bianca is the middle daughter.  She is the party girl with a penance to pay for her fast paced life. 

Cordelia is the stereotypical youngest child. You're supposed to feel sorry for the older two because Cordy is the "baby" and has been treated as such her whole life.  Then you're supposed to feel sorry for Cordy because she's never treated with any modicum of respect.  She just sort of annoys you though.

Then there is the parents and the love interests.  The father is a well-read Shakespeare teacher.  He speaks in riddles, quoting the Bard with pretty much ever sentence.  So much so that  you really want to just tell him to shut up.  But, the author does allow the girls to be annoyed with this trait and the mom to chastise the dad for it some as well.  The mother has just been diagnosed with breast cancer. I think the mom is portrayed the best of all the characters. 

Truth be known, the book wasn't as awful as I perhaps have made it out to be. But it wasn't good either. Too many pretty words, not enough realism. You wanted the girls to become more well-rounded faster. To figure out their issues and be better people sooner than the last 20 pages of the book.  You needed them to stand up for themselves and stop feeling so damn pitiful and sorry all the time.  But by the time they do, you don't really care anymore.