THE POOLS by E. Lockhart comes out October 2 - and you had better gird your loins...

 

...because it's weird! I read this in nearly one sitting and I will be going back to read it again. It is a novel in verse that had some weird formatting in NetGalley, but I got a paper ARC at ALA (signed by E. Lockhart, no big deal. I was first in line at her signing. I made her laugh. Whatever. It's not like I have been revisiting that glorious moment for the past 5 days...) and the formatting was lovely. But that's not the point. 

So Lexie and her family move to a new town to share . Her mother is ill and she is essentially parenting her younger sister, I think there is a dead dad, but I can't remember specifically. Luckily, she meets Chester and they fall in love. But one day Chester and the little sister and some other folks go to the local healing "pools" and as a result they turn into birds. Yep, I told you it was weird. Some stuff happens and it stays weird and some things get better and some things never do. I stan a pair of lesbian swans and I felt like I needed to read it again, but I don't know if I will. 

This felt very literary to me and Lockhart's note about the poetic formats she used was helpful in determining that I was correct. I read some reviews that mentioned parallels to depression and other issues and I can see it in retrospect, but as you know if you have read any of my other reviews, I'm about as deep as a wine pour at a chain restaurant so I rarely see those things when doing a first read. Hence the inevitable reread. 

The enjoyment factor, strong story and well defined characters are usually huge for me. I didn't necessarily enjoy this book. The story, however, was strangely captivating. And while the characters didn't spring to life, I think because of the format, there were several that I fell in love with - the aforementioned swans, the little sister and her best friend and the no-nonsense aunt. It was a strange, sad read and I couldn't put it down and, for me, that is key - the insistence on knowing what happens and why. Well, Lockhart gave me the first part and, ever since reading it, the second part has been swirling around in my head in a most gratifyingly mysterious way. 

Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC and E. Lockhart her damn self for the print ARC.