I was intrigued by this novel because it's been billed as this fabulous book about books. It is that, but in a very tangential way: three siblings are connected to a lonely little girl in their love for books. But their friendship is forbidden by the siblings overbearing, fanatical pastor father.

Ms. Arnold uses book and poetry titles for the sections of this book, but rarely actually connects the titles to the content--when she does, it is only in the most superficial way. No need to worry if you've ever read these books either, because it just doesn't matter. Some section titles are Crime and Punishment, The Road Not Taken, and The Pit and the Pendulum. There is no discussion, in any way, of any of these works...weird.

This book is an overwrought, and quite a melodrama. The opening scenes make you think a young woman, a 20 something, is telling her story, but you realize, it is actually a 40 something year old woman. All the characters are like this: one dimensional and persistent. The first person narrator, Chloe, tells their story, and not one single character ever seems to change or learn over time. they all stay the same (and immature at that). It makes for some irritating reading. Somewhere in the middle of this novel, I wanted to put it down. I found it repetitive and reading it became a slog for me. Books are used to create secret a code for Chloe's husband to write down his thoughts and secrets. Actually, the book is more about lies and misperceptions. Terrible things seem to happen to all of the people in this book, but they never learn from these things.

I was so happy to be done with this. the ending bordered on being ludicrous, and the author (perhaps unwittingly) left many dangling threads that are never tied up (Chloe's mother? Where'd she go?). I don't need a neat and tidy ending, but while the middle third of the book dragged on endlessly, the end seemed rushed and rather silly. I read books for the characters--I'm definitely not a plot driven reader--but if you're going to make the plot this convoluted, at least give me a proper ending. Not sure where the author was going with this, if ti was meant to be a thriller, a mystery, or a soap opera. The writing wasn't awful, but it could have used some heavy editing. 464 pages was much too long, and would have been better as a 350 page novel.

Some good books about books: Mr Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloane, The Bookstore by Deborah Meyler, When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (a kids book, but absolutely wonderful!).