Reviewed by: Pete Barber
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Approximate word count: 20-25,000 words
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Author:
“Cristian
Mihai (born 25 December 1990) grew up in Constanta, Romania. And he’s still
growing up, or at least trying to. Sometimes he writes. Sometimes he gets lucky
and writes something good. He can’t, however, draw a straight line. No matter
how much he tries. Not even with a ruler. And, please, don’t ever ask him to
sing.”
Description:
Chris
Sommers falls hopelessly in love with his cousin’s live-in girlfriend, Amber.
The story follows Chris as he tries to fulfill his desire for her.
Appraisal:
Chris, a
blocked writer, practically moves into his cousin’s New York apartment,
desperately snatching glimpses of his would-be muse, Amber. When his cousin
discovers Amber has been sleeping with a painter whom he befriended, a scene
erupts, and Amber subsequently runs away to Paris.
Chris
travels to Paris and is crushed to find Amber living with the saxophonist from
his father’s New York restaurant.
Beyond her
beauty, Amber is shallow and careless of others feelings, causing pain and
hardship through her actions. The writer does a fine job of maintaining the
counterpoint of Chris’s myopic and naive view of her.
The author
was clearly influenced by F. Scott Fitzgerald: Chris’s infatuation with Amber is
all consuming. The scenes in Paris depict a bohemian group of friends orienting
around a jazz cafe. The Gatsby is referenced a few times in the course of the
story.
The writing
is immersive, with fresh metaphors and well-defined, tactile scenes.
Occasionally, my impatience got the better of me as I wanted more to happen,
faster—but that isn’t the nature of the piece.
Like Jay
Gatsby, Chris’s infatuation is an overriding constant. Amber’s character is
revealed through her actions and their effects on others, but we never get to
really know her, or her motivations.
A subplot
is mentioned in passing: The painter was connected with a powerful New York money
man, who swears a vendetta against Chris’s family and eventually forces Chris’s
father’s restaurant into bankruptcy. Although this pointed up another cost of
associating with Amber, it seemed something of an undeveloped afterthought.
Unlike
Gatsby, there is no climactic scene. This ending was more reminiscent of a
Sopranos fade to black.
I enjoyed this
fast read but wouldn’t have complained if there had been more depth layered on
the characters and some conflict within the plot.
Format/Typo Issues:
Too few to
mention.
Rating: **** Four stars
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