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3.06 AVERAGE
3.06 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What an interesting little novel. My thoughts are a little bit scattered on this one because of how many different conflicting feelings I have. The writing was incredibly beautiful, able to zero in on really specific feelings and nuanced emotions, but was, mostly tbh, overly flowery for the sake of being poetic. I really enjoyed how real and well developed these characters were, but I also didn't like them very much. The plot had really good and smartly placed shining moments but only really had those few shining moments.
Amos and Claire are quite an insufferable pair to me. I love to explore the inner workings of complicated people, but I really could not stand the way the situation was handled with Anna. The final chapter gives you a really powerful Amos redemption arc and than rips it away, making me feeling more sad than anything else. Claire had no love in her heart for literally anyone. Emerson, to me, was actually a really inetersting character to explore in my opinion. It highlighted peoples need for power and the ways that they exert that power on the world.
Amos and Emerson's relationship was a highlight for this book for me. Two men who need each other more than any other person in their life to feel grounded can be both emasculating and empowering and we see how these two feelings mingle with each other through the story. The slight jealousies and anger towards one another that fade in and out of their minds is a relationship that I understand and have felt throughout my life at certain points. You want to include but also feel an intense desire to protect your possessions from them.
I really enjoyed the character explorations of Anna, Retsy, and Sophie. I felt that these three all had a sense of honesty about them that I respected, despite a coldness that they can have at times.
How this book dealt with SA was a shock to me. I really had no idea it was coming. I feel enlightened, in a way, after reading the aftermath of the scene in the laundry room. While it was heartbreaking and had me taking breaks to recoup a bit, seeing the slow shift in habit and personality within Anna was interesting. The need for control, a running theme through this book, manifests again in Annas plotline and it made me feel like I could easier see the signs of something like this. The fallout of Amos and Claire was incredibly infuriating and highlighted how people can take other people's tragedy and twist it into something selfish. Claire was completely ruined for me and Amos was too, despite feeling like his genuine love for his daughter would win out in the end.
In all:
I read this book incredibly quickly: it was hard to put down because I really do like the exploration of human thought that we got in this book. We explored the ugly thoughts that come and go and the things we say to help cope. All 6 of these characters were well written as well. The characters are the strong point for this novel for me. The plot a bit too thin for me and the writing felt ridiculously over the top at times.
Amos and Claire are quite an insufferable pair to me. I love to explore the inner workings of complicated people, but I really could not stand the way the situation was handled with Anna. The final chapter gives you a really powerful Amos redemption arc and than rips it away, making me feeling more sad than anything else. Claire had no love in her heart for literally anyone. Emerson, to me, was actually a really inetersting character to explore in my opinion. It highlighted peoples need for power and the ways that they exert that power on the world.
Amos and Emerson's relationship was a highlight for this book for me. Two men who need each other more than any other person in their life to feel grounded can be both emasculating and empowering and we see how these two feelings mingle with each other through the story. The slight jealousies and anger towards one another that fade in and out of their minds is a relationship that I understand and have felt throughout my life at certain points. You want to include but also feel an intense desire to protect your possessions from them.
I really enjoyed the character explorations of Anna, Retsy, and Sophie. I felt that these three all had a sense of honesty about them that I respected, despite a coldness that they can have at times.
How this book dealt with SA was a shock to me. I really had no idea it was coming. I feel enlightened, in a way, after reading the aftermath of the scene in the laundry room. While it was heartbreaking and had me taking breaks to recoup a bit, seeing the slow shift in habit and personality within Anna was interesting. The need for control, a running theme through this book, manifests again in Annas plotline and it made me feel like I could easier see the signs of something like this. The fallout of Amos and Claire was incredibly infuriating and highlighted how people can take other people's tragedy and twist it into something selfish. Claire was completely ruined for me and Amos was too, despite feeling like his genuine love for his daughter would win out in the end.
In all:
I read this book incredibly quickly: it was hard to put down because I really do like the exploration of human thought that we got in this book. We explored the ugly thoughts that come and go and the things we say to help cope. All 6 of these characters were well written as well. The characters are the strong point for this novel for me. The plot a bit too thin for me and the writing felt ridiculously over the top at times.
I wasn’t expecting to read a book where a man sexually assaults his best friend’s teenage daughter and, from the way he was being depicted, I had no interest in continuing the story
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
The prose is bizarrely pretentious. Sentence fragments, trying to be too artsy and not really contributing to setting or character in this book.
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Choppy, stuffy writing and too many similes made it hard to read this book. On top of that, The characters weren’t likable. And honestly, what mother would ever react like Anna’s?! So unrealistic.
Content Warnings
Teenage sexualization and assault
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated