This was a really weird book for me. Parts of it I enjoyed reading, I could tell the author knew how to weave a wonderful story, but it never really pulled me in. The book is divided into four parts, and for the first two, I wasn't really enjoying the book all that much. But once Minna entered the picture, I really became interested in where she came from and what she was all about. I never really liked her as a character (or any of the other characters, for that matter), but I did find her enigmatic and I wanted to know more.The main problem I personally had with The Forgetting Tree were the characters. I didn't like ANY of them. Well, I sort of liked Octavio, but he wasn't in the book long enough, and I wasn't able to develop a bond with him. The rest of the characters were just selfish, annoying, whiny, insane, or any combination of those characteristics.Claire, our protagonist, was not a character I could root for or even really understand. I didn't GET her motivations. This is hard to talk about without spoilers, but I will just say this. Throughout the book she was a doormat and once Minna came into the story, she let Minna walk all over her and control her, even to the point of cutting off contact with her children, letting the ranch fall into disrepair, and harming her health. Didn't get it. At all. I guess I am just not empathetic toward that type of person. I felt much the same about most of the characters, but more so toward Claire just because she was in the book most often.Here's the thing though. I can handle unlikable characters if I am enjoying the story, the writing is beautiful, or there is something else about the book I am entertained by. And I really wasn't with this book. Once we got into Minna's history and why she was the way she was, I found myself enjoying it more. But by that point, there were only 150 pages left in the book. The writing was pretty uneven. I hated the writing style in the beginning. I was finding unnecessary comma splices, fragments, and the writing was awfully comma happy, which is a thing I personally cannot stand. That tapered off toward the middle of the book, and I found myself wondering if it was a stylistic choice. Either way, I did not really care for it. After the halfway point, I actually really found myself enjoying the writing and turning the pages. I appreciated that finally, the book had a good flow. I'm not sure what happened there, but the reason why I think it was stylistic was because of the whole Minna equation. Once she entered the picture, Claire went through a personality change--a bit of a metamorphosis--and I think the writing was trying to emulate that. It didn't work for me though. As far as plot goes, for me the beginning was really slow. The death of Josh really didn't do much for me because I didn't feel anything for the characters. But once Minna entered the picture (see a recurring theme here?), I found myself enjoying more of what I was reading. This is why I gave the book three stars. It was quite a page turner at a certain point. And I really did appreciate the way the author incorporated theme and symbolism into the book's structure. But ultimately, I just didn't fall in love with this book the way I was hoping I would. It is a definite possibility that this could totally be a "me" thing. I think the right person really would enjoy this book more than I did.Who do I recommend this book to? Lovers of the weird, lovers of books that make you uncomfortable, and readers that like psychologically strange works. If you like your head to be messed with and don't mind feeling confused, I think you may be the reader for this book. Ultimately, I just didn't get the point, and the ending left me wondering what it all was for.
1
