Geek Love was like that for me. Remarkably imagined and strikingly told, but when things go south, they get hard. Whole concept is twisted of course and we know early on something bad is going to happen, but early on things are bright, they're intriguing, they're fun, they get you really locked in, and then...

"It was the day my grandmother exploded" Pretty well indicates that what is to come will be a quirky, sometimes mysterious, and darkly humorous account of family and misfortune.

Troy leaving out the gods. Or, if you want to argue for that being necessary for modern audiences, the leaving out of Pyrrhus.

I like it a great deal. I think it hits very differently at different times of one's life, I don't find Holden smart or relatable any more but I find it a fine depiction of loss of innocence and a messed up kid adrift. Still like that it isn't really about big external drama though. Was one of the books that taught me that that wasn't needed for literary satisfaction, that character and place and time for themselves could be the vital things.