Cindy M. (RenascenceC) reviewed on 5/19/2010 + 77 more book reviews

There's a lot to like about this book--the imagination of the whole story setting, the minds of the animals, the magical "coincidences." But there's too much reliance on, almost an apologetic for, the pedophilia theme. Although we don't have to deal with graphic details of child sexual abuse, I nevertheless feel that Harington is using the whole book to "groom" the reader into an acceptance of large age differences between lovers. I mean, one of the central characters has a whole library of just Nabokov! Not only is there a child abductor who envisions an idyllic pedophilic paradise, but the prime suspect is a relative mildly guilty of entertaining those thoughts, and in his search/rescue efforts comes across another child-abduction scenario, and those aren't the only instances! Almost all these men are sympathetic characters, too. That alarms me.

There's more actual sexual detail than I'd like, presented in a kind of back-to-nature way, which also contributes to the author's suggestion that our sexual desires and practices are just natural and should be indulged, no matter the object. Paradise is a remote, well-supplied isolation from civilization, without civilization's basic mores.

So I enjoyed the book quite a bit, cringed at a lot of it, felt manipulated by an agenda, and won't be recommending it to my friends.

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