There are only few authors who disappointed me such as Curtis Sittenfeld did with this piece of... writing. I really enjoyed American Wife and Prep by her so I couldn't foresee what kind of s+++fest this one would be!

In short the story revolves around identical twins (Daisy and Violet) who are sort of psychic and what happens when Violet senses an upcoming earth quake.

First of all: this book made me want to have kids even less because more than half of the book is about bored stay-at-home-parents in snug suburbia, changing diapers, wiping away shit and snot and hanging out with their kids, telling themselves what a stressful life they lead.

Secondly: all of the characters are more or less assholes. Daisy is a homely stay-at-home-Mum which borders on obsessive when it comes to her offspring, as well as weirdly judgemental and narrow-minded. Her twin sister Violet on the other hand isn't any better, she is a fat, sloppy, careless spinster who embraces her psychic powers and uses them to get attention. Also most other characters (big and small) depicted in the book come across as morons.

Thirdly: the story sucks! In the beginning I thought that this might shape up to be an interesting read, but as time went on, NOTHING happened. Just barely into the end something happens and also Sittenfeld's sashay into the issue of racial discrimination seems more than half-assed! All I basically got were unnerving details about being a stay at home Mum with a slightly weird sister and two twins being more or less psychic.

What an utter waste of time!!!