When I first started reading this book I thought I wouldn't be able to finish it. The segments about the Blind Assassin and the news clips seemed to interrupt the story, and I couldn't put them together with the rest of the novel. Thank goodness I didn't stop there. The two sisters aren't totally likable people. Iris is cold-hearted and passive, while Laura is soft, irresponsible and self indulgent. Both are self focused women who pride themselves on their dishonesty and don't seem to relate well to the world around them. The book leaves some issues unresolved, like what did Laura know and when did she actually find out? We can guess, but we will never know for sure because Iris never does. Oh yes, and I loved Cat's Eye, Orynx and Crake, and the Handmaid's Tail. But I always think the last Atwood book I read was the best one yet.

Shreeve admits that she wrote the early years first. The book seems to have two separate stories. Oh yeah, I get it. She wants to talk about a life unlived and the power of unresolved guilt. But it seemed to me that the two stories never really meshed. I didn't get how Linda evolved from that troubled teenager to the accomplished adult she later became. I got bored with the passionate story of Linda and Thomas in their later years. (Nothing new here. Seemed to be made for a movie. ) However, the story about the early years held promise. I would have preferred that story, developed honestly.