This was the first piece of work by Meg Wolitzer that I had ever read, and I found her writing style to be one of my favorite aspects of this book. It's very descriptive, readable, with just a little bit poetic prose. Hands down, I would read another one of Wolitzer's novels just for the writing.

That being said, I think this book was imbalanced. The plot, while interesting and made me want to read the book in the first place, did not really go anywhere. We have all these women who are "struck" by a spell of sorts, and afterwards no longer want to have sex or be touched by any men. This occurs after the local high school decides to perform the Greek comedy "Lysistrata"- a play where Grecian women go on a sex strike to prevent their husbands from going to war.

I felt as if too much time was spent on giving long backgrounds of each of the main women characters- their marriage, sexual partners, habits, etc...it just got a bit tedious and wasn't moving the plot forwards, especially given that the book is under 300 pages. By the time the climax of the book came around, nothing had truly happened yet.
Sure, people (both male and female) were affected, but it all felt very passive.
Additionally, the whole ending felt cheesy and just simply convenient.

Lastly, I think the characters could have been more lively. They were will written and unique and many of them interested me, but they just felt so FLAT. I liked a couple of them, but it was a very superficial like. Aside from family or sexual-based wants, we didn't get to know them very well.

It was a well-written but just okay read. I've heard some good reviews about Wolitzer's "The Interestings" and will probably read that next of her books, and hopefully there is more development there! ( )

Not my most favorite Wolitzer, but she remains an author that I love. She's a keen observer and recorder of domestic details, they hit me in the heart in a way many other authors can't achieve. The quasi-magical realism in this novel was interesting but I think could have been executed better. I liked the characters a lot and the little small town bubble they inhabited. ( )

Intriguing story line....new drama teacher, spell cast over town, now, no sex wanted by any of the females! It is becoming a quick read because I am curious!

UPDATE: It was a good enough book, kept me coming back for more but mostly because I wanted to see how it would end up. Good beach book potential. A play was put on by the new High school drama teacher, Lysistrata (sp?), a greek comdey about women who denied their men sex until the war was over. Seems like the play at the high school had a similar effect on the town in which it was being produced. I enjoyed the different characters and the various stages in their sex lives and how they changed, for the better or the worse. ( )

Loved it. On my way to becoming a Wolitzer completist. ( )

This is the fourth Wolitzer book I've read in pretty rapid succession. I liked it. It was sort of a neat idea, and it's an easy read. Wolitzer's humor and her ability to observe and describe things very closely are in evidence here. I haven't read a bad Wolitzer book yet, though The Interestings is far and away my favorite of the four I've read. ( )