I think I am the only person in the world who did not fall in love with this book. It certainly had some interesting parts, but I got really sick of the main character’s heavyhanded metaphors, cheeky parenthetical references and long, tangential rememberances of her blowhard father’s lectures during action scenes. This book could have been much better with a thorough editor slashing a good chunk of that academic babble with a big red Sharpie. I think there’s a good story in here but it’s hidden amongst all the extra, confusing filler and cutsey devices.

This was hands down the best book I have read in some time. It was one part mystery, two parts teenage drama, with a twist of literary and pop references. Unlike many books by new authors, Marisha Pessl really came through on a satisfactory way to end her novel. This is quite an achievement considering the enormous undertaking of writing a 550 page post-modern treatise on loneliness and the world of academia that still reads as a funny and smart mystery novel. Are you confused? You won’t be after you read “Special Topics In Calamity Physics”.