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3.31 AVERAGE
3.31 AVERAGE
reflective
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Well written coming-of-age story. More of a memoir feel than I expected, and less of the narrator’s perspective on Obama “the candidate.” Overall, a thoughtful and interesting self-reflection.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
interesting concept was not a huge fan of the execution. was still a good story but i wish the language was less lofty and the MC was less rambly in his thoughts. also was a lot about religion which lost me a bit. besides that i thought it was fitting to read a story about a young staffer during obama campaign coming up on a presidential election. maybe i would like more of this author's nonfiction writing, but this fiction was just a bit dry for me. definitely got pulled in by the cover and the author's personal story.
I, too, had great expectations about this book, but was disappointed. #rambles
medium-paced
I don’t think I’m in the headspace for American politics at the moment so found this a bit of a chore. The audio was very much a monologue more than a story that I struggled to connect with. Read as part of Tournament of Books challenge.
challenging
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
funny
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Definitely interesting but I think this book works best if you view it as a thinly veiled memoir about the author's work under Obama--which I'm sure it is, even if it wasn't explicitly marketed as such. Otherwise, the protagonist feels a little flat and boring, and the side characters make for interesting side plots but ultimately don't coalesce into a throughline. An example of this is the corruption scandal with Bea. The revelation spurred the main character into some self-reflection but didn't change anything about him as far as I could tell. It seemed like although there was a rich inner monologue, the main character's actual actions were all pretty normal and uninteresting.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes