Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld

I admit that I read Curtis Sittenfeld's Prep years ago. It seemed like something I would enjoy, but I ended up disliking the book. The main character is detestable, and there is way too much sex for my liking. Sisterland sounded good, because twins with psychic powers sounds like an awesome premise. Yet again, I was met with a main character that I didn't like and way more sex than I'd prefer.

Sisterland is about twin sisters Violet and Kate (Daisy). Violet receives a lot of attention when she makes a public prediction that an earthquake will occur. She creates a media frenzy, even gets a spot on the Today Show. Some people ridicule her, but others believe her prediction. Kate is upset that she would draw attention, attention that might end up falling on Kate.

While Violet works as a psychic, Kate is a stay-at-home mom. She used to have "senses," but she forced them away long ago. She even started calling herself Kate, from her middle name, instead of Daisy so that nobody would connect her with the freaky psychic twins. We get to see the bad experiences that Kate had had, her reasons for wanting a normal life. Personally, I understand her reasons, but I think she is a bit of a stick in the mud. I'd have liked a book from Violet's perspective, maybe even a shared narrative. Kate is very judgmental of her twin. Violet gives her reasons to judge a lot of the time, but the constant judging and snippy remarks reflect poorly on Kate.

I really would have preferred more psychic stuff and less sex. There is a lot of sex in this book. Most of it is fine, but the scenes toward the end of the book started to gross me out. I'm probably starting to sound like the Sex Police here, and writing the word sex so many times is making me feel embarrassed (Though I will probably get some new and fun items in the searches-that-brought-people-to-my-blog list). In summary, I do not like the main character or the sex. I do like the psychic aspects of the story, and the book is very well written. It wasn't really my cup of tea, but I can see how others might enjoy it.

I received a copy of Sisterland from Edelweiss and Netgalley, courtesy of Random House. It's available for purchase now.