Elliott Holt

“It's easy to love someone you haven't let down.”
― Elliott Holt, You Are One of Them

As the description suggests this work of Historical Fiction is about the doomed friendship of two young women during the Cold War.

Maybe not as fictional as I had thought. I read several reviews that this book is loosely based on a true story which I did not know when I decided to read it. Although I did enjoy this book I did not love it.

I enjoyed aspects of You are one of them and found the mournful tone to be very engrossing. This was one that was on my to be read list for quite awhile and I just had enough one day and read it in one night. I really enjoyed it although certain things I had issues with and I will include spoilers..

SPOILERS:

I know it says it is about the friendship between the two women..Sara and Jenny. But, for me, it is as much a coming of age story as anything else. One of the reasons I did not give it a 5, although I liked it, was because I was a bit let down by the ending. I know and understand that many books end in an abstract way, leaving the reader to decide on what they think happened.

But since the book really is about Sara's journey to find out if her friend is still alive..if she did not in fact, perish in the plane crash.. I wanted to know if it was Jennifer or not. Since we do not find out anything in regards to that issue,which is supposed to be what the book is about, that is what leads me to think this is really a coming of age tale more then anything else. Sara comes to the realization that it does not matter if it is Jennie or not..she doesn't need her anymore.

While I can appreciate the message, since the book is all about BOTH girls I was invested in Jenny's story and at the end of the day, the plot was really more about Sara and letting go of a friendship rather then keeping it. Honestly I am not sure if I would have chosen to read it had I know how different the book would be from what it is marketed as.

Also there were alot of side plots that I did not find as interesting as the central premise, particularly the romance aspect. Frankly I skimmed those parts as I found them rather dull. I really thought, going in, this was less a coming of age or romance then an intense mystery so I was a bit let down honestly although the writing was wonderful.

So I give it 3 stars and did enjoy it but wish some things had been a bit different.… (mehr)

Elliott Holt did an interview with The Millions, as well! This makes me wish every book had author explanations for the choices in cover and plot, which helps with my comprehension of the novel. http://www.themillions.com/2013/09/the-do-or-die-novelist-an-interview-with-elli...

To add a little more intrigue -- the blog Talking Covers just posted the author, designer and photographer's thought on the cover of the hardback. Excellent! http://talkingcovers.com/2013/07/23/you-are-one-of-them

Goes right along with my obsession of The Americans tv show. The closing pages also really resonated with me, having lost friends along the way that were tough to let go.… (mehr)