At seventeen, June Hardie is everything a young woman in 1951 shouldn't be--independent, rebellious, a dreamer. June longs to travel, to attend college and to write the dark science fiction stories that consume her waking hours. But her parents only care about making June a better young woman. Her mother grooms her to be a perfect little homemaker while her father pushes her to marry his business partner's domineering son. When June resists, her whole world is shattered--suburbia isn't the only prison for different women ... --Amazon.com.
As Always, Lukavics did not fail to disappoint. I really need to stop doing this to myself. Her books always have a fantastic premise which she just completely fails to deliver on. June could have been a strong character, but instead, she ended up being a rebel against everything (like personal hygiene??), instead of just the constraints of her society. That made her a poor protagonist, and one I found it impossible to connect with. Lukavics also relies far too heavily on body horror when a book like this set itself up perfectly to deal with psychological tension, rather than gore.
In true Lukavics fashion, the last quarter of this book was a mess. She always seems to get so far in her narratives and then can't finish it in a satisfactory way. The plot ends up feeling disjointed and rushed.
I think this might be my last attempt at Lukavics. I keep seeing potential, but she never delivers.
