The Candy House is another mind-altering reading experience from the author of A Visit From the Goon Squad.
An businessman/inventor offers a way to store your experiences including what everyone surrounding you felt about it (as long as you share your memories for all the world to see). It is a natural extension to our current social media experience. However, the book is written in short tales of different people’s experiences with the technology.
I think it would have been helpful to use some type of mind cloud program to keep all the characters and timelines straight. It took me almost half the book to see how some of the stories related to each other. Some never fit into the picture in my head. Is this a negative? Yes and no. Don’t read this book to relax before bed. Don’t try and read it in one sitting. It is more of a completive experience. Take it slow (and maybe take some notes). If you do, you will be rewarded with a completely different type of novel.
While this is labeled as a sequel to A Visit From the Goon Squad, it works fine as a standalone. Overall, The Candy House is an intelligent and innovative book that would be perfect for book club discussions. 5 stars!
Thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.