Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
“You could do anything you wanted, as long as you were beautiful, as long as you did things beautifully. If you weren’t, you just didn’t exist. She has drummed it into my head since I was small. Although I had noticed by now that reality didn’t always conform to my mother’s ideas.” (13)
If “The Goldfinch” and “The Glass Castle” had a baby, it would be this. So much wisdom on strength, hardship, and strength from hardship. On mothers, blood-related or not. On the difference between surviving and living. On art, written and creative and manipulative. Definitely teared up on the Claire and Olivia episodes. I can tell this book will be seared in my mind for a long while. It’s delectably indescribable, like an infinite universe in its own right- breathless, poisonous, and beautiful. And oh-so-seductive.
“I felt at home there, the silence, the spectrum of green under a resonant sky ringed by the tall fingers of Jeffrey pine and Douglas fir, a sky you could expect to see drifting with dragons and angels. A sky like a window in a portrait of a Renaissance cardinal. The music of flowing water and the resinous perfume of the evergreens.” (270)
“I hurt, therefore I am.” (401)
If “The Goldfinch” and “The Glass Castle” had a baby, it would be this. So much wisdom on strength, hardship, and strength from hardship. On mothers, blood-related or not. On the difference between surviving and living. On art, written and creative and manipulative. Definitely teared up on the Claire and Olivia episodes. I can tell this book will be seared in my mind for a long while. It’s delectably indescribable, like an infinite universe in its own right- breathless, poisonous, and beautiful. And oh-so-seductive.
“I felt at home there, the silence, the spectrum of green under a resonant sky ringed by the tall fingers of Jeffrey pine and Douglas fir, a sky you could expect to see drifting with dragons and angels. A sky like a window in a portrait of a Renaissance cardinal. The music of flowing water and the resinous perfume of the evergreens.” (270)
“I hurt, therefore I am.” (401)
Great story, lovely writing. Maybe a little over the top with the metaphors and similes, but it painted a good picture.
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
I am devastated. This book was devastating.
Mothers and daughters. Soothing behaviors that are self-destructive. Attachment and abandonment. Los Angeles and it's beauty and harshness. Sex and desire and their power for good evil and distraction. The murkiness of love.
Was the language over-wrought? Sure, a little. I have never seen so many similes in one place in my LIFE.
But every character felt full and real. Even the flowery language was beautifully sensual. I was sucked in and moved throughout Ingrid and Astrid's story.
I want to read the story from Ingrid's perspective.
Mothers and daughters. Soothing behaviors that are self-destructive. Attachment and abandonment. Los Angeles and it's beauty and harshness. Sex and desire and their power for good evil and distraction. The murkiness of love.
Was the language over-wrought? Sure, a little. I have never seen so many similes in one place in my LIFE.
But every character felt full and real. Even the flowery language was beautifully sensual. I was sucked in and moved throughout Ingrid and Astrid's story.
I want to read the story from Ingrid's perspective.
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
I wanted to like this after reading several disappointing books in a row. I did like it up until her last foster home. There were too many characters, foreign accents and chaos for me to stay focused. When the story suddenly jumps to four years later I almost liked it again but by then I just wanted to be done with it. It’s another book that fell flat for me.