Helpful Score: 7
Oddly, the book is set in an "end of the world" apocalyptic (minus the rioting, plundering, violence...like a Lifetime movie adaptation) scenario that fits quite well with the media hype of the H1N1 outbreak. But otherwise this book was nothing more than a list of the usual "step mom vs kids" stereotypes: man marries woman after whirlwind romance, man's kids hate stepmom, stepmom is lonely and contemplates having an affair with the too-good-to-be-true divorced neighbor, everybody BONDS!!! over the course of the book). Guess I will pass on this author's other novels.
Helpful Score: 2
Slow paced and extremely well-written, not your typical fare at all. I thought that the scenario that Kasischke presents was very believable. It's just different from the usual end of days story with zombies, alien invasion, and mysterious forces moving the universe type of thing that is very popular now. This book focus on the ordinary life of people as the world slowly crumbles about them and the heroine is not a gun- toting ,supernaturally gifted scion of some long-lost race of supernatural beings . She's just a regular joe trying to make sense of it all.I was never bored with this book. Loved it actually.
Helpful Score: 1
I loved everything about this book EXCEPT the ending. I felt like the author weaved an incredibly thorough and detailed story only to just drop it at the end. The story itself is one of the better ones that I have read lately, and I am very glad I picked up this book. However, I felt empty at the end of the story. While it had an overall hopeful ending, there was a lot left to the reader's imagination. In a way, it is a refreshing change, and its uncertainty made me feel more a part of Jiselle's story rather than just an outsider looking in, but I'm not used to books that just end like that. Despite the quasi-unfinished ending, I devoured the book and was drawn into the story, all marks of a well-written plot, well-developed characters, and an overall gifted storyteller. Even with my disappointment in the ending, I highly recommend this book.
Helpful Score: 1
I really enjoyed this book. It has a soft, dreamy quality about it, an improbable plot, yet draws the reader in.
I wasn't prepared for an apocolyptic story which in the end was a bit contrived in some of the plot lines. Things worked out too nicely without any real conversation between characters. Though the writing was full of great imagery I think I'll probably pass on any other Kasischke novels for now.
I read this book in one day. It is not a romance novel. It is however a love story. About a woman learning about her own strength.
This story is fairly predictable. Jiselle is a naive woman that marries an attractive man looking for a caregiver for his children. I imagine all readers can see this from the start. I found myself alternately feeling sorry for her and wanting to thump her in the head for being so stupid. The Phoenix flu permanently separates Jiselle from her husband, and leaves her as the only caregiver to his spoiled children. All around, a pretty boring story that I had to force myself to finish.
While some dystopian books take place in an imagined future where things are very different from our own world (like The Hunger Games series), In A Perfect World takes place right in our here and now. There are no fantasy elements to this book at alleverything seems utterly believable and possible, which made it a more effective and scarier book for me.
Our glimpse into a world that encompasses nothing less than a complete breakdown of our society is Jiselle, a flight attendant who has "landed" the handsome and charismatic pilot Mark Dorn. In her 30s and tired of always being the bridesmaid and never the bride, Jiselle is ready to settle down and imagines a perfect little world with her ready-made family. (Mark has three children whose mother died a few years before.) Jiselle leaves her job and moves into the idyllic little town where Mark has a picture-perfect home. Anxious and excited to be the stepmother, Jiselle is eager to meet her new family. What she finds is three children who are less than thrilledwith the exception of the young boy (gotta love those boys!)with their new stepmother. With Mark away for a good portion of time, Jiselle struggles to make the transition into her new life.
In the background of Jiselle's life, there are rumblings of another kinda mysterious Phoenix Flu is causing troubles through the country. Even celebrities seems to be getting it and dying. (OK...a little editorial note here: I just loved that Kasischke killed off Britney Spears with the flu! Take that, Ms. I'm A Terrible Singer Yet Have Achieved Huge Success!)
As the story progresses, Mark is away more and more often, and Jiselle finds out some disturbing information about her new husband. And as the Phoenix Flu begins to become more and more of a problem, Jiselle's focus begins to shift from getting adjusted to family life to survivinga skill she finds herself to be more adept at than she ever imagined.
As conditions worsen and society begins to fall apart, Jiselle is thrust into a nightmarish world where isolation, survival, sickness and death become a part of everyday life. Yet the worse things get, the more Jiselle's world actually becomes "a perfect world." With an ending that will leave readers who need things tied up at loose ends, this book surprised me in how it shifted and turned and twisted and changed into something that I can't quite describe. Consider it an uplifting story about the end of society as we know it.
Reading this right after The Hunger Games, I think this book came out on top for me. Where The Hunger Games is flashy and showy with its tantalizing premise, this book is more subtle and slow and deep. Written in an almost distant, chilly type of prose, Kasischke has created a dystopian book that truly scared and disturbed me yet also made me feel good about the world at the same time. As I said, this isn't a book that ties things up in a nice little package for you, but I thought it suited the story well. If you're looking for an adult book on the opposite side of the dystopian spectrum, then this book is for you.
The Bottom Line: I'm giving the book 4 stars. I was drawn into Jiselle's world in an almost hypnotic way. Each page brought me closer to horror but also to goodness. This is a book that I could envision happening in our lifetime, and I think Kasischke did a wonderful job of keeping it from falling into a run-of-the-mill "Oh No...There's An Epidemic" type thriller. This book has a vibrant beating heart if you take the time to look for it.
Our glimpse into a world that encompasses nothing less than a complete breakdown of our society is Jiselle, a flight attendant who has "landed" the handsome and charismatic pilot Mark Dorn. In her 30s and tired of always being the bridesmaid and never the bride, Jiselle is ready to settle down and imagines a perfect little world with her ready-made family. (Mark has three children whose mother died a few years before.) Jiselle leaves her job and moves into the idyllic little town where Mark has a picture-perfect home. Anxious and excited to be the stepmother, Jiselle is eager to meet her new family. What she finds is three children who are less than thrilledwith the exception of the young boy (gotta love those boys!)with their new stepmother. With Mark away for a good portion of time, Jiselle struggles to make the transition into her new life.
In the background of Jiselle's life, there are rumblings of another kinda mysterious Phoenix Flu is causing troubles through the country. Even celebrities seems to be getting it and dying. (OK...a little editorial note here: I just loved that Kasischke killed off Britney Spears with the flu! Take that, Ms. I'm A Terrible Singer Yet Have Achieved Huge Success!)
As the story progresses, Mark is away more and more often, and Jiselle finds out some disturbing information about her new husband. And as the Phoenix Flu begins to become more and more of a problem, Jiselle's focus begins to shift from getting adjusted to family life to survivinga skill she finds herself to be more adept at than she ever imagined.
As conditions worsen and society begins to fall apart, Jiselle is thrust into a nightmarish world where isolation, survival, sickness and death become a part of everyday life. Yet the worse things get, the more Jiselle's world actually becomes "a perfect world." With an ending that will leave readers who need things tied up at loose ends, this book surprised me in how it shifted and turned and twisted and changed into something that I can't quite describe. Consider it an uplifting story about the end of society as we know it.
Reading this right after The Hunger Games, I think this book came out on top for me. Where The Hunger Games is flashy and showy with its tantalizing premise, this book is more subtle and slow and deep. Written in an almost distant, chilly type of prose, Kasischke has created a dystopian book that truly scared and disturbed me yet also made me feel good about the world at the same time. As I said, this isn't a book that ties things up in a nice little package for you, but I thought it suited the story well. If you're looking for an adult book on the opposite side of the dystopian spectrum, then this book is for you.
The Bottom Line: I'm giving the book 4 stars. I was drawn into Jiselle's world in an almost hypnotic way. Each page brought me closer to horror but also to goodness. This is a book that I could envision happening in our lifetime, and I think Kasischke did a wonderful job of keeping it from falling into a run-of-the-mill "Oh No...There's An Epidemic" type thriller. This book has a vibrant beating heart if you take the time to look for it.
Excellent. I couldn't put this book down.
