Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

I picked up Suzanne LaFleur’s Listening for Lucca several years ago; the BYU Bookstore was offering 75% off of their bargain books and Lucca took place on the Maine coast.  Sold!  What’s more, elective mutism has interested me since I was in college, so I was really expecting to like this book.

Meh.

Yes, what details LaFleur gives about the setting ring more or less true, but the setting doesn’t feel like a major part of the story.  Yes, the main character’s little brother doesn’t talk, but a)he’s four and b)there didn’t seem to be a solid story there, not one that made sense.  Yes, Siena collects lost items that she finds, but that doesn’t seem to be comprehensively explored.  Yes, she has a 6th sense of sorts, but THAT doesn’t feel fully explored, either.  Even the portion of the book that takes place in the past doesn’t feel fully told.  It isn’t that there’s just too much going on; yes, there are different story strands, but they are perfectly capable of fitting together into an excellent novel.  It’s more that Lucca feels like a long short story.  Nothing is developed enough to work nicely as a cohesive whole, not for a novel.  Siena and Sam’s relationship didn’t make sense to me–what on earth led him to spend time with her, given her complete lack of friendliness or conversation?–and Siena’s attitude about her mother was straight up irritating.  At the end of the day, I was unimpressed enough that I’m donating this to the library instead of passing it on to my kiddos, and that’s saying something right there.  The premise really was fabulous–it could have been a contender!–but, well…meh.