I wish I could give a rating higher than 5! Th II s is definitely the best book I' vs read by this author.
After a wish comes true, the narrator becomes silent and withdrawn, an Ice Queen. She retreats into books, especially fairytales...
"fairytales relieved us of our need for order and allowed us impossible, irrational desires..." (yet she feels nothing).
Lightning strikes, up ending her world. Circumstances teach her the power of opening up to love. ( )

Almost, but not quite

I didn't dislike it, but I would not recommend it. I can't quite decide what Hoffman is going for. It feels too mundane for magical realism but the fantastical elements stretch reality too far. And about half way through, the use of symbolism ramps way too high. I feel like this book is supposed to be fantastically moving and life-affirming but it feels like more of a tragedy. Mostly, it feels superficial, like Hoffman was trying to write A book with An Important Theme and forgot to include any substance. ( )

This is a fairly slim volume, but it is dense. With emotion, fear, life, magic, death. The narrator (I’ve forgotten her name, or maybe she never had a name) is plagued by death, and moves to Florida to be near her brother, her family. There, she is struck by lightning and turns to ice. She finds a kind of comfort with Lazarus Jones, a fellow “strike survivor,” who burns like fire. It is a story of pain and longing, unfulfilled, and how life can take turns that you would think would ruin you, only to show you possibilities of new and different kinds of lives. The narrator endures unfathomable pain, from self doubt to grief, loneliness, and the rending of her very flesh, only to find her way to a peace that is unexpected but right. Alice Hoffman always plays with a kind of magical realism, but this feels more like real magic. ( )

First and foremost, the book has the rich quality of writing that all of Alice Hoffman's books have. For that reason, I was drawn to the characters and invested in this journey. The characters in this story are more uncomfortable for me—darker isn't quite the right word and it's as close as I can come—so I enjoyed this book less. This book heavily ties to fairy tales. After reading this, I feel the need to read "The Snow Queen" by Hans Christian Andersen, to see if there are more direct connections; I've seen movies of the story but it's been a long time. Fairy tales are the main theme. The topic of people who have experienced lightning strikes is the other major theme. It seems to me that real situations are adapted for this story, but I haven't researched that. Toward the end, the story does touch on Chaos Theory and End-of-life. [review writing in process]
, and the Chaos Theory part does not work for me at all, and I have an interest in that topic; it just didn't seem to fit here.
— Rebecca ( )

Wow! My favorite Alice Hoffman story yet! ( )