Book #54: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

I read this book last year (I think--no, two years ago!), but I joined a book club here in Frisco and they were reading this for November, and I thought it would be worth a re-read. When I read and summarized it before, I didn't think all that much about it. I just got through it, thought Flavia was a little weird, and moved on. But this time, I tried to think more about why I wasn't totally absorbed by this book either time I read it. I think part of it is the dynamics in the relationships for the main characters. Flavia is only eleven years old, but with a dead mother and a disconnected and still-grieving father, she might as well be on her own. She has little obvious relationship with her father or sisters--other than trying to annoy them as much as possible--and she doesn't have any friends or go to school or do... anything other than mess around in her chemistry lab. It's a little sad to think about how little love she has around her--and I think that affects how much I care about this book. She's a total one-man show, and there are no other rounded or interesting characters to follow. I know Bradley has written a number of other books in the series, but I don't really feel interested in reading any of them because I don't see any evidence there will be any change in that.

Not to make it sound like I don't like this book--I did! But I'd probably give it three stars instead of four because of that problem.