I would like to give this book 3.5 stars. Writing a bit self conscious, but overall quite good. A satisfying ending and good suspense throughout. ( )

Decent character study that I liked more than I thought I would. Undoubtedly a book that will suffer from its own marketing campaign. Quite glad I went into it with no expectations. ( )

I love it when a novel transports me, and this one did. Not so much to a different place or time, but deeply into the main character - flaws and all. ( )

I liked how this novel developed. There was one point where I had an aha moment, and realized that many of my assumptions were incorrect.

( )

ALMOST 4 STARS!

Unbecoming follows 23-year-old Julie, who is actually called Grace, who is living in Paris and works to repair antiques. As the story continues, Grace begins to reveal the events that lead her to leave her small town life in Garland, Tennessee, as well as the man she married and the man she loves, behind. It's not a precocious love story or high-intensity suspense, which is I think really saved this novel. It has familiar elements without falling into the pattern.

The story starts slowly and, for me at least, was a bit hard to connect with at first. However, after I got a feel for the story, I very much enjoyed it. I am a huge fan of art and liked the main character's interest in art history. The back and forth between Paris and the U.S. gives the reader the sense that we are experiencing the story in realtime as Grace/Julie is relaying it to Hanna.

I liked that it wasn't the obvious romantic story line where the main character goes running back to the first love. I like that Grace had faults and screwed up a few times. There were times when I really didn't like Grace, but I don't consider that a bad thing. I think she was convincingly written.

I also like that it ended differently than I thought it would. It was satisfying without being overly predictable. ( )