'WHITE FUR'.......STAR-CROSSED LOVERS VS. EVIL IN TRUMP TOWER

White Fur by Jardine Libaire (2017)   BQ found this a can't-stay-away-from-it, compelling read.......even though the constant clash between the white-hot story and the overly studied, ostentatious prose wore us out.

             By the time we reached the last page, we did breathe a slight sigh of relief that the author had finally reached some sort of conclusion for her bedeviled characters......assigning a fate for them and bringing a merciful end to all the tortured similes and metaphors used to to describe their nuclear powered, mismatched love affair.

             The impossible, improbable young love coupling involves scrappy streetwise survivor Elise Perez and fabulously wealthy Yale student  Jamey Hyde, scion and heir of an investment banking dynasty. This toughened, urban Juliet and her uppercrust Romeo wind up in l980's New York City, jumping each other's bones to the utter horror and disgust of the Masters of the Universe who comprise Jamey's family.

              And the boiling haves-and-have-nots stew that makes up 80's NYC serves to mirror the gulf between Elise and Jamey........Midas-rich one percenters sharing the city with rats, roaches, and the grindingly poor......with only the price and quality of the available drugs separating them.

              Author Libaire brings to life this seemingly doomed pair with painful precision......the street hardened Elise who's surrendered to her overpowering infatuation......and the lost soul Jamey, struggling to escape the all-powerful, controlling grasp of his family.

              On the downside, Libaire frequently stumbles over her often poetic verbiage in describing both the characters and the city. This show-offy, creative writing graduate student stuff only slows down the narrative.......beautifully composed prose, but we'd rather get back to Jamey and Elise......(although we did enjoy Libaire's frequent, detailed person-by-person lists of the city denizens, itemized as if they're guidelines for a movie casting director.....)

               Throughout the book, we fear terribly for the mental and physical well-being of this star-crossed pair.......and sure enough, Libaire arranges an earth shaking plot development for them at that monolithic monument to mindless greed and indulgence......Trump Tower. (We dare not say more....)

                Faults it may have, but we still found most of "White Fur" an exhilarating read.......we had to know what happens to these people.....and that's the definition of a good story.....3 stars (***)