The Traveler's Wife -- Take 2

I'm finally finished! I'd give it an overall thumbs up, but not too enthusiastically. The breakdown:

I loved the first half. That gets the enthusiastic thumbs up. Brilliant story, brilliant writing, brilliant way of messing with your mind just a little bit. But starting at about the halfway point where (MINOR SPOILER ALERT!) they start trying to have a baby, I really lost interest in it. I kept reading because, by that point, I had made enough of an investment in the book that I wanted to finish it. And thankfully, the last 100 pages or so get back to the story I liked, and mess with your mind even more. Especially right at the end, you have to do some serious thinking to keep the story lines -- which are happening at different times and yet simultaneously -- straight in your head.

But (credit where credit is due) even the parts of the book where I didn't care for the story had brilliant writing. Niffenegger's ability to capture a feeling or emotion in words which effectively convey it from the character to the reader is impressive, to say the least.