Book of The Month discussion

A teenage girl breaks free from her father's world of isolation in this exhilarating novel of family, identity, and the power we have to shape our own destinies—from the New York Times bestselling author of Pretty Things and Watch Me Disappear.

The first thing you have to understand is that my father was my entire world.

Growing up in an isolated cabin in Montana in the mid-1990s, Jane knows only the world that she and her father live the woodstove that heats their home, the vegetable garden where they try to eke out a subsistence existence, the books of nineteenth-century philosophy that her father gives her to read in lieu of going to school. Her father is elusive about their pasts, giving Jane little beyond the facts that they once lived in the Bay Area and that her mother died in a car accident, the crash propelling him to move Jane off the grid to raise her in a Thoreau-like utopia.

As Jane becomes a teenager she starts pushing against the boundaries of her restricted world. She begs to accompany her father on his occasional trips away from the cabin. But when Jane realizes that her devotion to her father has made her an accomplice to a horrific crime, she flees Montana to the only place she knows to look for answers about her mysterious past, and her mother's San Francisco. It is a city in the midst of a seismic change, where her quest to understand herself will force her to reckon with both the possibilities and the perils of the fledgling Internet, and where she will come to question everything she values.

I just started this one and I'm stopping just a bit early after Ch. 8

(view spoiler)[I got excited as Jane (Esme? Theresa?) found the photo and names on the back. I'm super curious now to know who she really is and WHY her dad has been lying to her. His paranoia about the FBI is very suspicious! The chapter ends on such an emotionally loaded cliffhanger. She knows that her dad has likely been fabricating her ID all these years! It totally drew me in and I am 100% invested now! (hide spoiler)]

Through Ch. 17 / 26%

(view spoiler)[Wow!! I feel really bad for Jane. She is really "backward" when it comes to knowing about about her world. Her little microcosm of a world has left her knowing so little.

I like that she's met Lionel online, but I hate the Heidi seems to have dismissed her for Jocelyn. Guess we'll see.

It's ironic that the very project her dad gave her that was supposed to serve HIS mission becomes her key to autonomy, or at least the beginning of it.

I'm glad she's starting to think for herself and asked her dad if he renamed her and about his "criminal" life. Wow. That probably indicated to him that she's questioning (and possibly knows) things.

I was upset that at the end of Ch. 17 he took away her "newly minted connection with the outside world." I can't stand her dad...jeez, he's so manipulative, controlling, educated but unstable and possibly even dangerous.

I love Jane though. She's innocent due to her upbringing but she's very intelligentand has such a natural curiosity. I think she's emotionally starved and morally conflicted because she doesn't understand her dad's motives. She knows something isn't right and I'm really rooting for her to find out where her mom is (alive or dead?), whether her dad has committed a crime against her mother, maybe kidnapped Jane when she was a little girl and her mom's been looking for her all these years. I need to know! Fingers crossed it's not something over the top! (hide spoiler)]

Through Ch. 25 / 41% Stopped at Part Two ESME


(view spoiler)[I am so scared what Saul plans for his own daughter. What a disgusting human being, especially that he's her dad! When she said she's off "like a lamb to the slaughter" by heart dropped. I PRAY he isn't gong to prostitute her or compromise her innocence in ANY way! I can't even imagine my father trying to get me to look sexy in a tight dress, taking my hair down etc. That scene was SO uncomfortable.

Since I only read a few more chapters and came upon Part Two, I decided to update in this post.

Wow! I can't believe that Saul committed murder and put her in such a precarious situation. What a creep! I was hoping her mother was still alive. I had a feeling he'd kidnapped her to keep her from her mom for some reason. Maybe just to hurt her mom because he's shown no love that I've seen or heard.

I hope she finds her mother now and that she isn't held responsible for anything that happemed. (hide spoiler)]

Finished

I wanted to finish posting my comments last night but with my monitor messing up on me I couldn't. Thank goodness it was a plug. Thankful for hubby! :)

(view spoiler)[Since this covers a lot it's hard for me to remember everything but I wanted to comment on two things: Kepler's Bookstore in Menlo Park that was mentioned and one humorous thing.

Kepler's is where Heather (my daughter) and I went to see Colleen Hoover when she and Abby Glines and Jamie McGuire were on tour WAY back in 2012 or maybe 2013. It was before she was well-known. I would say there were 40 people there at the most. lol Now look at her.

Secondly, one part in the story I thought was too funny was when Jane went to K-Mart and asked for a bra. When asked her size she guessed size medium. lol Poor Jane.

I wasn't happy with the ending. I wanted her mom to embrace her and for them to at least become like friends. Esme was ripped off in the parental department. Her dad being just like the Unabomber was creepy. He seemed to have loved her, but his mind was warped. I'm glad that Jane/Esme turned him in. I couldn't live with myself if I knew who was murdering people (family/loved one or not) if I kept it to myself. I'm glad that she didn't get punished or have to serve time in jail or prison.

I was glad that she and Lionel remain friends. The overall theme of the story for me was about how important community is. You can't just live off the grid the way Saul did. I say do like Trisha and go camping! lol (hide spoiler)]