Cycler by Lauren McLaughlin(Random House, Hardcover)
Rating:
Jill is a girl for most of the month. Then right before she has her period, she turns into Jack. Jill trys to forget about the days that she is Jack, even going so far as to meditate as soon as she turns back to a girl so that she can shut out Jack's memories. Jack, on the other hand, is locked in Jill's room during his 4 days of being every month. He's not allowed to go outside, talk to anyone, or surf the internet. So he relives Jill's memories, until he decides to break free.
I think that the concept of this book was so far in left field that I just couldn't get into it. I mean, a girl that turns into a guy when she's premenstrual? Gross me out. For the first fifty pages, the book didn't move anywhere and I was a little put off by the detailed accounts of Jack's affinity for dirty magazines. Neither of the characters really spoke to me. Jill was in denial and Jack was just a perv. The plot did pick up when Jack decided to break out of the house. Ramie, Jill's best friend, was a fun character who played a part in the lives of both Jack and Jill. However, the ending was a little too neat. Although, after all that Jill and Jack had been through, I guess they deserved a break. If you're intrigued by crazy plot lines (Scott Westerfeld did give this book a good blurb), then this might be a book for you.
Cycler has been nominated for the 2008 Cybils Awards in the Science Fiction/Fantasy category.
Posts
This one sounds a little too odd for me. :)
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness. I'm laughing. I am raising Mari's two (are they... wooden nails?) into the air as well!
ReplyDeleteI DO like crazy plotlines so I will read this at some point.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this book, and am sad that you didn't, but ah well. As for the ending, I thought it wasn't neat at all- I mean, it didn't even really end and it was hardly neat because nothing had been explained to everyone else at the dance.
ReplyDeleteBut anyway, there's gonna be a sequel to it, which I'm excited for. :)
Good review though- I did enjoy the "gross me out" bit, hehe.