Oh, man, I read this too and had the exact same reaction. I was expecting there to be a reveal that Teri was also hiding some stress or trauma, but I expected it to be more along the lines of Kate's secret, not... THAT.
It wasn't enough that the brother dies in a patented YA problem novel freak accident, he's also Teri's son/brother by rape! (Or: It wasn't enough that he's Teri's son/brother by rape, he also dies in a patented YA problem novel freak accident!) It was so much that it tipped over into ridiculous.
Anderson has a problem with that. The Impossible Knife of Memory is mostly "girl deals with dad's PTSD" and then concludes with an absolutely ridiculous climax of piled-on trauma.
I also really liked Wintergirls and Speak so she can be more restrained but...
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Date: 2019-06-12 04:45 pm (UTC)It wasn't enough that the brother dies in a patented YA problem novel freak accident, he's also Teri's son/brother by rape! (Or: It wasn't enough that he's Teri's son/brother by rape, he also dies in a patented YA problem novel freak accident!) It was so much that it tipped over into ridiculous.
Anderson has a problem with that. The Impossible Knife of Memory is mostly "girl deals with dad's PTSD" and then concludes with an absolutely ridiculous climax of piled-on trauma.
I also really liked Wintergirls and Speak so she can be more restrained but...