text: While I realize that the majority of people thought this to be a stellar book, it reminds me of the story, "The Emperor has no clothes".  Yes, Choan can write a beautiful sentence and yes, the first several pages were intriguing but the switching of years was very annoying.  The "flipping back and forth" was not accomplished in a smooth, flowing manner.  In addition, the subject matter was incredibly depressing and the characters were so flawed that one did not even care about how their lives evolved.  The kidnapping was predictable and the ending contrived.  It would be impossible to recommend this book to anyone
  