Review: Losing Clementine

Clementine Pritchard plans to commit suicide. This novel follows the last thirty days of her life as she plans for her demise. Among her projects are finding her father, who disappeared years ago, finding new owners for her cat, and obtaining the animal tranquilizers that will do the deed.

I really liked this book. Clementine is endowed with a wicked sense of humor, and there's plenty of entertaining snark in the first-person narrative. We learn more about Clementine's traumatic family life over the course of the book. There are also plenty of lush and interesting descriptions of Los Angeles (and of Mexican food- I found myself frequently getting hungry while reading this.)

The one thing I found unsatisfactory about this book was the ending. The concept for the book is excellent. I'm not sure, though, that it's possible to have a satisfying ending to this sort of story. We spend the duration of the book wondering if Clementine will kill herself of not. Either way, it seems, the reader will be disappointed. This reader was quite disappointed in the ending.

Ashley Ream, Losing Clementine (William Morrow, 2012) ISBN: 0062093630