Kasischke's writing is as lovely as always, but "White Bird" suffers from some seriously strange pacing. The majority of the book is slow and dreamy as the protagonist reflects on her life, when suddenly in the final 20 or so pages there's a lot of information and action all at once, and it doesn't work well. The ending is rather lackluster too, leaving me more addled than satisfied. I can't help but thinking that the book should have ended differently, though I won't go into detail because I don't want to put any spoilers. I think this book is still worth a read -- just be aware that the ending may leave you cold.

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