BOOK REVIEW: The Goldfinch

This is a review of The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. Thirteen year old Theo Decker miraculously survives an explosion that kills his mother. Abandoned by his father, he is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. Theo's longing for his mother leads him to cling to the one thing that reminds him of her: a captivating painting that draws Theo into the underworld of art. This is a story that spans decades. It is a story of grief, loss, friendship and in the middle of this lies the mystery of a painting gone missing.

First, I do want to say that this book is a bit long and very heavy. There were times I had to put the book down and read a bit from something lighter. That being said, Donna Tartt sucked me in from the very first lines of the book. I was captivated immediately. The book actually starts with Theo as an adult recounting his life. It doesn't become clear until the end of the book why he is doing this. (Don't worry, no spoilers for those of you who haven't read it yet!) The description of the explosion and its aftermath at the beginning of the book was everything it needed to be: suspenseful, emotional, painful. There were a few things that happened in the beginning that the author doesn't really explain until later.

I don't know if anyone else is bothered by this, but sometimes I feel like some male authors just cannot write for women and vice versa. I know I'm not a man, but I do feel like she wrote for men (and especially a 13 year old boy) and she perfectly described the emotions of a young boy grieving for his mother. He refused to talk to anyone really and it took him a long time to accept the reality of his mom's death. I was incredibly moved by the descriptions of this boy's emotions and how they evolved over time. His grief as a boy turned into anger and shame as a man. Theo's best friend, Boris is someone that I am still not sure whether I loved or hated. It was probably a combination of the two. He was a really funny character and he made no apologies for who he was, which is what Theo needed I think.

Here are a few issues I did have with the book. As I mentioned, the book was very long. I felt like it was too long. Because it was a story that spanned decades, there were times when the events were very dry. There were a lot of events that didn't necessarily need to be there. There were some parts that were harder to put down than others. Also, the ending was a bit anticlimactic for me. It felt like everything that happened at the end was something out of a TV movie and that it was done merely so Tartt could wrap everything in a neat little bow. Maybe it's just me, but I don't always need everything neat and tidy at the end of the book. This is one that could have used an ending with a little mess.

I give this book a 4/5.



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