Customer Reviews

Catching Genius

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Raised in affluence in Florida, Estella and Connie Sykes may be sisters, but are also best friends. That is until Estella, two years older than Connie, catches the dreaded "eyecue", whatever that is. Fearing for her beloved normal sibling, Estella drifts away from Connie, hurting her sister who does not understand why. Estella is a math prodigy while Connie is a norm.

Now years later, the two sisters still not close, return to their Gulf Coast home to help their mom sell the family house. As they work on what to toss, what to give away, what to sell, and what to keep, their past as precocious partners and the subsequent split when they were seven and five respectively surfaces forcing both especially the elder to reveal family truths.

Alternating perspective, CATCHING GENIUS is a delightful look at how childhood relationships make the adults. Out of innocence and a real concern for her younger sister, Estella finds the road to hell paved with her good intentions. Though the Connie sections seem more insightful as the audience feels her decades old still lingering hurt while not quite understanding how Estella coped over the years, readers will appreciate Kristy Kiernan's poignant look at the changing relationship between two sisters.

Harriet Klausner

First off, one of the bad reviews had some incorrect information and apparently the reviewer did not read through to the end. I don't typically write reviews (more a fan of listmania) but I enjoyed this book quite a bit and was sad to finish it. It's about Connie and Estella, two sisters who were close in their childhood but then are separated by a parent who is clearly consumed by one child's "giftedness". The story unfolds with the perfect amount of information and drama to keep one wanting more. The author wrote a solid, believable story, she certainly did her research.

Okay - I'll admit - I read the reviews and thought, "Oh, no - another "sister" book - filled with anger, guilt, recriminations, angst and reconciliation. I decided not to read it. But, luckily someone recommended it to me, and since I didn't have anything else to read, I read it. This book was so good that I couldn't bear to put it down. And it's by a new author so I can look forward to more books from her! I'm recommending Catching Genius to everyone I know.

My book club started with the author's 2nd book, Matters of Faith, and quickly decided to read this one, as well. Both are wonderful discussion books. For Catching Genius, it's especially hard to believe this is a first novel.

A couple of the women in our group said they thought they'd have to force themselves to finish it when they realized the main character was being repeatedly cheated on by her husband. We've read some books like that and well, enough already. Plus, most of us just don't find those characters too likeable. Yet, this stuff happens and what was refreshing about Catching Genius was getting to meet the character just at the time when she decides she's had enough, so rather than have to slog through all the familiar affair stuff with her, we instead get to see how and why she makes the changes that she does - all rendered in a very belieavable way. That, plus the sister and mother relationships made for a wonderful book club discussion.

Kristy Kiernan has either been in a similar situation with a sibling or has an uncanny ability to sense and understand the maddening nuances of family relationships gone off the dead end. As someone who struggles to have any kind of relationship at all with my sister, I can honestly say that this novel absolutely captured exactly how I feel and, I'm guessing, probably how my sister often feels too. It's a great read, well written and just complex enogh to keep you interested and wishing for another couple of chapters by the time you get to the end.

I thought this book was well written and loved the characters and story line. I would have loved for the book to continue and felt the end of the book didn't close all the hanging threads as tightly as I would have liked. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good novel about family, love and the nuances of life.

I read Catching Genius because I was intrigued by the subject matter. Two sisters who have to deal with the high IQ of one and the average IQ of the other. This difference in IQ and the resulting attention to one sister over another led to the eventual estranement of the two. It was very entertaining and thought provoking. The story held me from beginning to end. I thought the ending wrapped up a little to perfectly. It almost seemed as if the author tired of the characters and wanted everything resolved and done with. The book was enjoyable for the most part.

Admittedly, my interest and enjoyment of Catching Genius went through a few stages as I read. The beginning quickly drew me in to the tale of the two sisters - Estella and Connie - and their fragmented past. The next bunch of chapters tended to drag on a little bit, but thankfully by the middle and throughout to the end, Catching Genius grew on me and I sped forward to the end happy with the story overall.

As of late, I've found myself really enjoying books that are set by the beach and tell the stories of characters that grew up in beach houses in beach communities. I personally grew up in a residential community in the mountains which somehow makes the idea of growing up by the beach take on a very foreign, very romantic, "oh that sounds so nice," type of feel. It just sounds incredibly peaceful, and I enjoyed the second half of this book much better than the beginning probably due in good part to that fact.

I like that Kiernan moved the novel forward, that the characters had progressions, but at the same time that she didn't end everything all tied nicely in a bow. Sometimes I appreciate that, but I think in this case, a little sense of the uncertain is necessary. The novel is about rebuilding and repairing relationships and at the novel's end it appears as if more of the journey is still to take place.

Overall, Kiernan's style suited me. She had a pretty balanced mix of flashbacks and chapters that covered present day, and her transitions flowed well between the two. She had details, but not too many that I got bored, and her writing was clear and not overdone. I was impressed with her debut novel and will definitely look to read her next book in the future.

Although this is her first novel I hope it isn't her last. A wonderful book that I read in two or three days and have now mailed it off to my daughter. The way each sister told her story and their different perception of the same event was quite interesting. I would recommend this book to everyone.

Catching Genius is an amazing debut by an author who really knows how to capture characters. I felt like I knew Connie and Estella by the end of the book and I was touched by the realistic portrait of sisters and of their relationship to their mom and dad. One thing I really liked about this book was the way it described the beautiful setting. I've never been to the coast of Florida, but now I feel like I have.... Laugh, cry, get mad... this book made me feel all these things. I'm adding Kristy Kiernan to my must-read list.