Review: White Fur by Jardine Libaire
Print Length: 384 pages
Publisher: Hogarth Press (May 30, 2017)
From Goodreads.com: When Elise Perez meets
Jamey Hyde on a desolate winter afternoon, fate implodes, and neither of
their lives will ever be the same. Although they are next-door
neighbors in New Haven, they come from different worlds. Elise grew up
in a housing project without a father and didn't graduate from high
school; Jamey is a junior at Yale, heir to a private investment bank
fortune and beholden to high family expectations. Nevertheless, the
attraction is instant, and what starts out as sexual obsession turns
into something greater, stranger, and impossible to ignore.
The unlikely couple moves to Manhattan in hopes of forging an adult life together, but Jamey's family intervenes in desperation, and the consequences of staying together are suddenly severe. And when a night out with old friends takes a shocking turn, Jamey and Elise find themselves fighting not just for their love, but also for their lives.
White Fur follows these indelible characters on their wild race through Newport mansions and downtown NYC nightspots, SoHo bars and WASP-establishment yacht clubs, through bedrooms and hospital rooms, as they explore, love, play, and suffer. Jardine Libaire combines the electricity of Less Than Zero with the timeless intensity of Romeo and Juliet in this searing, gorgeously written novel that perfectly captures the ferocity of young love.
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My Rating: 2 stars out of 5
This story is an absolute train wreck. You know you should look away, but you can't.
To be fair, the author definitely has a gift with words. They write in such a way that you can absolutely see what they are trying to convey. However, so much of this story doesn't make any sort of sense that even the brilliant descriptions can't save it. I would have LOVED this story if there wasn't the constant reference to these people "being different inside" and "putting on a façade" and any of the million other ways the author tries to say they aren't really connected to humanity. The characters were just weird.
Being from two different worlds? I can get behind that. Complex characters? Totally. Wealthy family immediately being suspicious (or in some cases downright hostile)? Bring it on. Consistently talking about how they "see" but do not see. How they consistently feel a disconnect between themselves and everyone else? That could have been done better.
And the ending? Does not tie up any loose ends. We still don't know what ultimately happens. And that was probably the biggest disappointment.
To be fair, the author definitely has a gift with words. They write in such a way that you can absolutely see what they are trying to convey. However, so much of this story doesn't make any sort of sense that even the brilliant descriptions can't save it. I would have LOVED this story if there wasn't the constant reference to these people "being different inside" and "putting on a façade" and any of the million other ways the author tries to say they aren't really connected to humanity. The characters were just weird.
Being from two different worlds? I can get behind that. Complex characters? Totally. Wealthy family immediately being suspicious (or in some cases downright hostile)? Bring it on. Consistently talking about how they "see" but do not see. How they consistently feel a disconnect between themselves and everyone else? That could have been done better.
And the ending? Does not tie up any loose ends. We still don't know what ultimately happens. And that was probably the biggest disappointment.
All things considered, I do believe there are people who will enjoy this novel, and I would read more from this author.
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White Fur is available from Amazon.com
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