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ember_is_gay's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
i am not sure if i liked this book. the whole time i was reading it, i couldn't tell if i was actually enjoying. there would be times where i would be really getting into it and then something weird/unnecessary would happen and i would put it down. the intense descriptions of abuse were so not it for me, i dont think it is super necessary to include and actually found that the descriptions were almost glamourising it. (i am not against stories about abuse, i think they are important topics that should be covered in media, but i disagree with glamorisation).
the storyline itself was really interesting, and although could have been better written, i did want to know what happened and was invested in Rose and Pierrot succeeding in what they set out to achieve.
the storyline itself was really interesting, and although could have been better written, i did want to know what happened and was invested in Rose and Pierrot succeeding in what they set out to achieve.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Child death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
calicat42's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is the one book I would read for the first time over and over again. Tragically beautiful. A commentary on love, humanity, relationships, and trying to find our way in the world. It shatters your heart beautifully.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Addiction, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide, Drug abuse, Violence, Sexual violence, Infidelity, and Emotional abuse
paperbackstacks's review against another edition
0.25
If it were possible to give half star reviews on Goodreads, I would because this book doesn’t even deserve a full star in my opinion.
Full disclosure, I did not finish this book. I got around 55% of the way through before I couldn’t take it anymore and gave up. I’d hoped that I would have been able to drag myself all the way through so that I could fully articulate my thoughts on why this book ended up being so absurdly awful. However, halfway marked the point where I had to yell uncle.
To me this book felt like an unedited VERY rough first draft that had somehow managed to get published. Honestly, where was the editor on this? Who gave this the green light?
If you see yourself as somehow interested in picking this book up, strong content/trigger warnings for; child molestation, incest, sexual assault, child abuse (physical and emotional), and drug abuse.
This book entertains some difficult and heavy topics starting from the very first page. One of the issues I had with this book however, was HOW these topics were handled, or rather not handled.
Overall, the story didn’t feel like it had much substance (something I’ll touch on in a moment). To me it seemed as though O’Neill threw these subjects into her story as a way to try and make it feel profound or deep when there was nothing else in place to support those attributes.
Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I tend to favor books that exhibit detailed writing, flowery imagery, and what some would call “purple prose.” However, I’m not opposed to simplistic prose if the poetry or the punch comes from somewhere else; subject matter, dialogue, imagery...SOMETHING. The prose in The Broken Hearts Hotel was so simplistic to the point where I felt like I was bored to tears and wanted to rip my hair out. There was no attempt at any sort of imagery, the sentences were so short it felt like the flow of the narrative was on a continual stop start motion. The metaphors felt like they were wild ideas O’Neill flung up against a wall to see if any would stick. None of them did. The writing was downright awful.
As far as the characters in the story go, oh lord, where do I start? To me it seemed as though O’Neill was trying to go for a whimsical, but slightly off-kilter vibe for her characters and storyline. What it ended up being was purely absurd, and most of the time, nonsensical.
The two main characters, Rose and Peridot, grow up in the same orphanage together and have a stent of performing in rich peoples homes to raise money for their orphanage. They supposedly “fall in love“, but end up being separated in the early teens and lose contact with each other.
Now, I feel like it’s a huge red flag when I’m reading a story and any piece of dialogue can be said by any one of the characters. There was absolutely no differentiation in tone, motivation, or thought process of ANY of the characters.
Second, there needs to be a balance of the narrator telling the reader something about the character and having the character’s actions follow through/support what was being said about them. There was none of that, simply a never ending list of facts about the character that felt unbelievable or unwarranted.
The characters all felt interchangeable, bland, and unbelievable.
The main characters in this book are aggravatingly absurd, the plot is helter skelter, and the setting is completely forgettable. If you’re going to set your story in a different time at least DO something with it. I think the story would have benefited from a dose of magical realism. O’Neill toes the line on that once or twice but never manages to cross it. Magical realism could’ve made her characters feel more plausible, aided in her attempt to impart a whimsical and eccentric atmosphere, and overall made her book far more enjoyable than what it was.
I didn’t manage to get to the part in the book where Rose and Peridot are reunited. They are supposedly in love with each other from the time they spent together growing up, yet every instance where one is thinking of the other after being separated is in regards how they want to bone each other. If O’Neill was attempting to portray love between these two, it was done poorly.
Now, I will say that one of the characters who was repeatedly molested in the orphanage does develop a sense of hypersexuality as a result, and wrestles with guilt and shame revolving around their childhood trauma. That aspect of the story felt like an accurate portrayal of how childhood sexual abuse can manifest for someone as they grow up. Yet there really wasn’t any sort of exploration of how this might have shaped the character. The only “thoughts“ we get on it are scenes where the character engages in sex with numerous people and then the only described thought they have afterwards is just “[character’s name] felt guilty.” And that’s it, nothing more.
This is the only “heavy” topic that exists in this book that gets any kind of attention in regards to how it would affect the character’s growth and development. And that’s the level of exploration we get with the one that is brought up.
There was absolutely no exploration of the nuances of the heavier themes in this book other than that they simply existed. Which made them feel like plot devices that were attempting to impart weight and import into a story that already had no substance.
Full disclosure, I did not finish this book. I got around 55% of the way through before I couldn’t take it anymore and gave up. I’d hoped that I would have been able to drag myself all the way through so that I could fully articulate my thoughts on why this book ended up being so absurdly awful. However, halfway marked the point where I had to yell uncle.
To me this book felt like an unedited VERY rough first draft that had somehow managed to get published. Honestly, where was the editor on this? Who gave this the green light?
If you see yourself as somehow interested in picking this book up, strong content/trigger warnings for; child molestation, incest, sexual assault, child abuse (physical and emotional), and drug abuse.
This book entertains some difficult and heavy topics starting from the very first page. One of the issues I had with this book however, was HOW these topics were handled, or rather not handled.
Overall, the story didn’t feel like it had much substance (something I’ll touch on in a moment). To me it seemed as though O’Neill threw these subjects into her story as a way to try and make it feel profound or deep when there was nothing else in place to support those attributes.
Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I tend to favor books that exhibit detailed writing, flowery imagery, and what some would call “purple prose.” However, I’m not opposed to simplistic prose if the poetry or the punch comes from somewhere else; subject matter, dialogue, imagery...SOMETHING. The prose in The Broken Hearts Hotel was so simplistic to the point where I felt like I was bored to tears and wanted to rip my hair out. There was no attempt at any sort of imagery, the sentences were so short it felt like the flow of the narrative was on a continual stop start motion. The metaphors felt like they were wild ideas O’Neill flung up against a wall to see if any would stick. None of them did. The writing was downright awful.
As far as the characters in the story go, oh lord, where do I start? To me it seemed as though O’Neill was trying to go for a whimsical, but slightly off-kilter vibe for her characters and storyline. What it ended up being was purely absurd, and most of the time, nonsensical.
The two main characters, Rose and Peridot, grow up in the same orphanage together and have a stent of performing in rich peoples homes to raise money for their orphanage. They supposedly “fall in love“, but end up being separated in the early teens and lose contact with each other.
Now, I feel like it’s a huge red flag when I’m reading a story and any piece of dialogue can be said by any one of the characters. There was absolutely no differentiation in tone, motivation, or thought process of ANY of the characters.
Second, there needs to be a balance of the narrator telling the reader something about the character and having the character’s actions follow through/support what was being said about them. There was none of that, simply a never ending list of facts about the character that felt unbelievable or unwarranted.
The characters all felt interchangeable, bland, and unbelievable.
The main characters in this book are aggravatingly absurd, the plot is helter skelter, and the setting is completely forgettable. If you’re going to set your story in a different time at least DO something with it. I think the story would have benefited from a dose of magical realism. O’Neill toes the line on that once or twice but never manages to cross it. Magical realism could’ve made her characters feel more plausible, aided in her attempt to impart a whimsical and eccentric atmosphere, and overall made her book far more enjoyable than what it was.
I didn’t manage to get to the part in the book where Rose and Peridot are reunited. They are supposedly in love with each other from the time they spent together growing up, yet every instance where one is thinking of the other after being separated is in regards how they want to bone each other. If O’Neill was attempting to portray love between these two, it was done poorly.
Now, I will say that one of the characters who was repeatedly molested in the orphanage does develop a sense of hypersexuality as a result, and wrestles with guilt and shame revolving around their childhood trauma. That aspect of the story felt like an accurate portrayal of how childhood sexual abuse can manifest for someone as they grow up. Yet there really wasn’t any sort of exploration of how this might have shaped the character. The only “thoughts“ we get on it are scenes where the character engages in sex with numerous people and then the only described thought they have afterwards is just “[character’s name] felt guilty.” And that’s it, nothing more.
This is the only “heavy” topic that exists in this book that gets any kind of attention in regards to how it would affect the character’s growth and development. And that’s the level of exploration we get with the one that is brought up.
There was absolutely no exploration of the nuances of the heavier themes in this book other than that they simply existed. Which made them feel like plot devices that were attempting to impart weight and import into a story that already had no substance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship
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