Special Topics in Calamity Physics
Ratings43
Average rating3.6
15
Ratings43
Average rating3.6
She found her teacher dead - Hanging by a piece of electrical cord. The North Carolina police think it was suicide. Her former friends - the Bluebloods - blame her for being there. And her father tells her to leave it alone. But Blue van Meer is a student of books and can't let a mystery go. Because all her life puzzles both complicated and intricate have littered her path - her mother's death in a car crash; a childhood spent roaming from town to town; her dad's serial affairs. Are these the fantasies of a teenager too lonely or too clever for her own good? Or has Blue stumbled on something so dark, so devious, that her whole world is about to be flipped upside down?
Reviews with the most likes.
Just couldn't do it - gave it 6 hrs, but couldn't go on when I saw there were 15 to go!
Pretentious and slow.
A classic coming of age tale meets a conspiracy theory thriller roughly at its peak and the two spark an entirely new type of story. Compelling and shockingly good.
This book is rife with too many literary and pop culture references, a lead that is too self aware, and a supporting cast of adolescents and adults who cannot get their life together. At times it's almost a chore to read and other times I believe I'm reading some of the greatest prose ever written. What this novel has going for it, and what ultimately garnered it 4 stars was a payoff that you never saw coming and the ability to tie up loose ends with a fancy now. Even the questions you're left wondering about (provided so cleverly by the author) are gratifying enough that the answers don't even matter. Overall, a great read if you can survive the name dropping of every author known to man.
