Scan barcode
eloiserogers's review
"That was the problem with always identifying with the protagonist of a coming-of-age novel, no one else but you ever got to come of age. You got to be an actual person and everyone else was just a symbol of a particular type of person or pathway."
migalu23's review
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
georgiadoesbooks's review against another edition
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.5
hannahmay1's review against another edition
emotional
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
lilyherling's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
sanskeiro's review
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
aish_mh's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
emmareadstoomuch's review against another edition
4.0
this cover is exactly what reading a book you're obsessed with feels like.
and this book is like if the unbelievably secondhand stressful parts of young adult books in which the newly magical / haunted / superhuman teenagers refuse to do their homework were interspersed with passages of brilliant analytical clarity.
it also is very debut-y, which is a nice way of saying it contains lines like the protagonist reading plath's ariel for the first time in her "oven-hot bedroom" that just make you want to curl up and die.
it's about a first-generation asian immigrant from australia, who receives a fellowship to work on her "postcolonial" novel and/or "postcolonial sylvia plath" phd in england. she doesn't really do either, is the plot.
i don't love sylvia plath and this book (perhaps intentionally?) affirmed all of my reasons for that unpopular opinion, which was both fun and annoying.
but it did have lots to say about misogyny, and some about race and privilege, and some about academia, and i found almost all of it interesting.
bottom line: i liked the good more than i disliked the bad!
and this book is like if the unbelievably secondhand stressful parts of young adult books in which the newly magical / haunted / superhuman teenagers refuse to do their homework were interspersed with passages of brilliant analytical clarity.
it also is very debut-y, which is a nice way of saying it contains lines like the protagonist reading plath's ariel for the first time in her "oven-hot bedroom" that just make you want to curl up and die.
it's about a first-generation asian immigrant from australia, who receives a fellowship to work on her "postcolonial" novel and/or "postcolonial sylvia plath" phd in england. she doesn't really do either, is the plot.
i don't love sylvia plath and this book (perhaps intentionally?) affirmed all of my reasons for that unpopular opinion, which was both fun and annoying.
but it did have lots to say about misogyny, and some about race and privilege, and some about academia, and i found almost all of it interesting.
bottom line: i liked the good more than i disliked the bad!