The Giants House by Elizabeth McCracken

“My memories are not books. They are only stories that I have been over so many times in my head that I don't know from one day to the next what's remembered and what's made up. Like when you memorize a poem, and for one small unimportant part you supply your own words. The meaning's the same, the meter's identical. When you read the actual version you can never get it into your head that it's right and you're wrong.” 

I feel very empty inside. I really need to stop trusting my mother with books. Once again she has sent me a raw, harsh, and beautiful book. 

Stats:

Genre: Adult romance

Feelings: UM HECK YES.

Happiness: Yes. Excuse me while I weep.

Cuteness: Yes but then you cry. You catching on here? It's sad.

Fast pacing: No.

Series: No. 

Read if you like: Books, libraries, forbidden love so forbidden it's almost weird.

Content: Yes. It's an adult book, but nothing is explicit. One case of the f-bomb. The main character sleeps with another character at one point, but that's was for psychological issues almost and not told explicitly. A few discussions revolving around sex but again, nothing was dirty. Some light touchy feel-y stuff.

In one sentence... A lonely librarian and an oversized teenaged boy struggle with self-discovery and love. 

In other words: Emotional trauma ensues.
Thoughts: Libraries, and old books.

Overall:

Rating: 4.5/5 

This review has VERY LIGHT SPOILERS IN THE NEGATIVE SECTION OF POST. You can go ahead and read on if you are okay with knowing a few things.

The Lovely Bits:

I can't really put words together. I'm going to have to write this very logically or else this whole post will turn into a long ramble.

The emotions in this book were spot on. The whole scale of values and ideals in this book were clear. Loneliness, love, romantic and in the family sense. It captured many things perfectly. That feeling of wanting to be part of a family...to have a sense of real home. That feeling of wanting to really be loved, to be desired.

And being lonely. I am a teenager, I am not a thirty year old woman. I don't know the type of loneliness the author describes here. But everyone still has felt a heavy loneliness at some point in their life. And this book takes the little experience you have, and use it to make you feel the overwhelming loneliness Peggy feels in this book.

And the thing is...not once did she bluntly say that she was lonely and sad. It was told in actions, in thoughts. It was shown through everything Peggy did. And you felt every bit of remorse and hidden anger she felt. 

The characters were real. Each character you met you immediately had a sense for who they were. You loved, disliked, were endeared to character after character. When I put the book down (okay fine, it was more like throwing it down) I instantly missed them all. Those characters? I wanted them back.

The writing was superb. Not just because of the capture of emotion, but just the unique skill put into the prose. In paragraphs that normally would not paint a picture you could see this world in your mind. The way she uses metaphors is one of the best ways, I think. She uses the characters experiences and loves to make metaphors that seem real, and show the feelings.

This whole book is emotion and character driven. I think it would be challenging to read if you did not like the characters. Even so, as said earlier I think that even people who don't know much about heavy loneliness will enjoy this story.

The Less Lovely Bits:

As stated earlier, this is an adult book. There's a part where Peggy sleeps with a character. And while I can see why, it felt unneeded. It was a lovely show of her loneliness and need for love, and also a good breaking point. But I think all that could have been shown in a way that made me feel less comfortable.

It is more of a slow paced book. While Peggy's constant pause in narration to describe or talk about something is interesting, it makes for a book you can't just fly through. This is a book you need to take your time with.

Overall, it was a stunning book. When the reveal come early in the book, you will get upset but continue. And the end will warm your heart while simultaneously rip it to shreds. I think there will be very many people who don't like it, because of its almost controversial plot line, and other more peculiar literary things, but I hope you will give it a shot.