Stopped after 2 chapters. Did not enjoy the writing or the story. ( )

A book, location, plot and story with a a lot of potential, this kept me reading until the end. However, having reached the end I am not entirely sure that the destination was worth the voyage.

See tag. ( )

I didn't get this one. The first 120 pages were spent establishing that 1) John Egan is big for eleven. Really big. 2) John's parents are freaked out by how big he is 3) John is sad because he parents don't treat him like a little boy anymore. 4) John is interested in detecting lies.

Once those things are established (i.e., pummelled through the reader's skull) through a variety of rather repetitive scenes, there's a plot shift, which at first feels interesting because finally something's happening! or, well, almost happening. Then I got vicariously addicted to meth via Nic Sheff's "Tweak," after which I was (barely) able to stomach the rest of "Carry Me Down." ( )

This didn't go the way I thought it would, and it ended up being one of those books where I dislike all the characters too much to really care what happens to them and so lose interest in the plot, I'm afraid. Kind of similar to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, but more irritating. ( )