After Tricia gushed about "Little Bee," she lent the book to me. Did it blow me away? Not really. I'm still trying to figure out if I really liked the book. I definitely didn't love it.

The way the stories of the main characters intertwined was pretty interesting and incredible, as Tricia mentioned in her review, but I spent a lot of the book wondering how I was supposed to feel about the two women. I worried for Little Bee, for her safety, for her future. But I found Sarah - her "friend" in England - to be kind of unlikeable. I judged her for her actions and didn't sympathize for the situation that she got herself into that linked her to Little Bee.

The story is told by both women, alternating perspectives by chapter. I kind of wish the author would have just stuck to Little Bee. I didn't care enough about Sarah to care what happened in her life. I did care - and worry about - her son, permanently dressed up in a Batman costume to keep the Baddies away from his father, which to me was the most simple, tragic description in the book. Maybe it's because I've lived a suburban life, but it was harder for me to read about a child who doesn't understand how he's supposed to grieve than about a woman who witnessed rape and murder in Nigeria. Maybe it's because I work in the news business.

I wish I had seen what this commenter did in the book, and I probably would have come away liking it a little more - or at least come away really knowing whether I liked it. (Warning: Spoiler alert with that link.)


-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl