Review: Under the Falls

Under the Falls by Richard Russo
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm not entirely sure why the reviews for this book are so so bad. I thought it was perfectly average. Yes, there are a lot of open plot-points and several things don't seem to make sense but once i started reading I found myself wanting to read more and more. In fact, I read the whole thing in a single sitting.

I think there are two main issues with this story: it wasn't well-developed. The characters are not interesting and as the reader I didn't feel like I understood any of their motivations enough to figure out why they made the choices they made (I felt like Curt was the only one that came close.) And they all make such terrible choices the whole time. So if you don't understand them, they are not textured enough and they make poor choices, it becomes harder to read the story.

Second issue is that this novel is written by an author who is clearly capable of writing so much better. So at a deft hand like his, it feels even less forgivable because it feels like laziness/choice vs lack of ability.

Maybe that explains some of the frustration others seem to have.

with gratitude to Knopf and netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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