Snow Falling on Cedars

Book: Snow Falling on Cedars by David Gusterson published 1994
ISBN 13: 9780679764021

How I found this book: Class list #4

Average Goodreads Rating: 3.74 stars (out of 100,245 ratings)

My Rating: 1 out of 5 rotten tomatoes


         UGH. This book was the exact opposite of The Scarlet Pimpernel, I thought I would hate that book and ended up liking it, but with Snow Falling on Cedars, I thought I'd like it and ended up hating it with a passion. The story was described as a mystery, and yet it lacked one of the main things people love about mystery novels. Excitement. The story was the most dull thing I've read in a long time. A few times in reading this I realize I've read about 10 pages and have no idea what's going on. Not because it was a difficult read, but because I don't care whats happening.

      The characters in this story were also very one dimensional, you get a bit of back story for some of them but it all seems forced. The reporter Ishmael Chambers especially, he's a weepy old war veteran who hasn't gotten over his young love of over 20 years ago. He lives with his mother -once again, pathetic- and just mopes through the story hardly even contributing to the plot. He's just a tired, cliche, character that Gusterson recycled from the trash can of literature. Even the suspect himself didn't stand out much. Everyone was just painfully average.

       Another thing that bothered me, was the obsessiveness of the detail in this book. I know, adjectives add to descriptions but do I really need a whole page dedicated to the sheriffs love of Juicy Fruit gum? Seriously, unless paid by Juicy Fruit to advertise there is no logical reason for doing that. Oh and the creepy lawyer... It is described how he tugs at the wattles of skin at his neck and then it goes into how he's old and can't get it up anymore. There is such a thing as too much information David Gusterson. Please learn that.

      The only good thing I can think of about this story is the final plot twist. Ishmael and his ex lover (oh and the wife of the murder suspect) Hatsue find evidence at the last minute to prove her husband's innocence. I'll be honest, the ending made me consider changing my 1 star rating to a 2. However I still really didn't like the book and I figured that if I would ever give a 1 star review this would probably be it.  Sorry for such a mean review! I hardly ever do that lol maybe I got a little carried away.
                       
                                Thanks for Reading!                                             - R