“To describe me as anonymous would be unfair, but to notice me other than in passing would be a rarity.”
Genre: Fiction, Mystery
Actual Rating: 3.5 stars
Spicy Meter: N/A
Content Warnings: Touches on drugs and illegal dealings. Revolves around a disappearance.
“The Clementine Complex” follows Gary Thorn, a 30-year-old legal assistant, as he sets off to look for a virtual stranger, a beautiful woman whose name he never caught but is calling Clementine, because she was reading a book titled “The Clementine Complex.” Why, you may ask—well, perhaps because his coworker, who he met her with, is suddenly missing so she’ll probably make a good alibi. Or well, perhaps because he simply wants to reconnect with her. Either way, Gary’s journey will be unique throughout this book.
Call this what you want, either a wild imagination or magical realism, but either way this book was absolutely bewildering. Told through the first person, you really get into Gary Thorn’s peculiar mind. I mean, we’re talking to squirrels right up from the first chapter, it’s something for sure.
The only reason I didn’t give it a higher rating is because the narration and the main character in general wasn’t really for me. I enjoyed Gary’s curiousity but the way he described the world that surrounded him? Not so much.
Either way, grab this book if you’ve liked books with peculiar characters like “The Maid” by Nita Prose. And well, if you’re looking for a magical realism read written by a true English legend or just looking for a cozy mystery, then “The Clementine Complex” is for you.
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ARC provided by Simon & Schuster, through their S&S Book Club Favorites program, in exchange for an honest review.
andrea's galley 