The novel Annie on My Mind has given me many mixed feelings while I read it. At one moment I'm really enjoying the reading, then at the next I just really don't care what is going on. I think its the writing. The execution of the Epistolary (Letter-form) novel is not executed very well. I applaud Nancy Grace for writing in this very creative style, but I feel that she could have told the story from a more colorful point of view than that of Liza's. Liza just does not seem to be a very likable character to me. She seems to be confused about her role as a young woman and is really quite awkward.
There are many instances in the novel where her confusion of gender seeps through, even though quite subtle, they are there. The first moment I see this is when her brother, Chad, is reciting the Powers of Congress, expecting that Liza is listening to him. She is actually not, and thinking about her own stuff(pg. 17). This shows that Liza does not possess the caring, nurturing nature of a woman who is always there to listen, and is more like a man who could really care less what the person next to them is saying but still replies, "uh-huh."
Another instance of Liza being "manly" is when she brings a flower to Annie, an "African Violot" (pg. 83). It is accustomed for a man to bring a woman flowers on date, but since Liza is only a young girl, it shows that she has accepted the role of the psuedo-male in the relationship.
I agree on "The execution of the Epistolary (Letter-form) novel is not executed very well." There were times when I was reading the book and I would forget I was reading a letter to Annie. I felt we were only reminded it was a letter at the beginning and very end of the story. I would have liked to read more of a split between writing the letter and Liza thinking back to her senior year of high school.
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