I had trouble getting comfortable in this novel. Our protagonist, Cheryl, a single woman in her mid-forties, was behaving bizarrely. Not like a true lunatic maybe, but markedly socially inept. I thought maybe she was on the autism spectrum. I could, I thought, see in her people I've personally encountered who have Aspergers, so that was a possibility. But then the other characters were acting no little bit bizarre as well, so I abandoned that idea and began thinking the whole thing was simply bonkers. The action taking place did not seem to be grounded in any reality that I'm familiar with.

I wondered if that was because I live in the South, and always have, and this is California. Not just California, but LA. Lots of "kooky" people live out there, right? Pretty sure I've heard that. Is this believable behavior for that setting? Then I had an inspiration: it's like a comedy sketch! SNL, or Kids in the Hall. You're not exactly going to expect rationality from characters in a sketch, are you now. You're going to be prepared for some zaniness.

This frame helped me make sense of the developing relationship between Cheryl and the abusive roommate foisted upon her by her employers, which otherwise made no sense whatsoever to me. I coasted along with them taking it none too seriously and figuring this book was none too memorable until, a bit more than halfway through, I found the novel losing some of that intensity of unreality - not an abandonment of it, but a definite stepping down - and gaining in emotional heft.

This latter half of the novel deals with serious stuff. How parenthood suddenly changes your life. Struggling to come to terms with your sexual identity. When to stick out a relationship, and when maybe the right thing to do for everyone is to end it. There's good stuff here, and my enjoyment of this book shot up.

A strong second half after an underwhelming first half for me, then. ( )

Was having fun with the insanity of the first half, then when Clee left, it felt like I was just waiting for book to end. Don't read this if you're depressed. Really different from anything I've read lately. Super weird . ( )

I don't know what to make of this story; it was certainly strange and unique. I enjoyed consuming it though. ( )

This book was so good that finishing it made me depressed. I would give it more stars if I could. ( )

This book was clearly written by Tina Belcher. Worth the sore feet from standing by the bookshelf to read it.

You'll get it. ( )