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3.36 AVERAGE
3.36 AVERAGE
The author did a great job sustaining the voice, but honestly after a while I just wanted the narrator to die in a fire. A little bit one-note for me. Hard to believe that a 172-page book is too long, but that's how it felt.
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was recommended to me late last year, when I had my own little obsession with Treasure Island going on (well, really it was more with Black Sails, but they are branches on the same tree). So I get it and our unnamed narrator is definitely standing on a cliff of change when we meet her. I DID not expect this book to go down any of the avenues it went down. It was completely unique and weird and wonderful and I loved it. I laughed out loud. I winced.
So good.
So good.
Ohmigosh. This book is a wonder of creative writing. I'm convinced that our heroine was on the right track...find a set of core values -- a classic piece of literature is a good place to start -- and live by them. And aren't boldness! resolution! and independence! essentially good traits? (I'm not sure about the 4th core value: hornblowing! what is that, exactly?). The plans of our intrepid adventurer go wildly awry, leaving injured relationships and sometimes relatives in her wake. This farcical tale offers an unlikeable protagonist whose behaviour is completely egregious and undeniably compelling. Why don't people just "vote her off the island?" For the same reason I couldn't put down the book: I couldn't look away from our heroine. What could she possibly do that is worse than her last fiasco? Yet, she rises (sinks?) to each new occasion.
Good luck checking this book out of the library when you search for Treasure Island!!! Somehow the exclamation point's aren't searchable. I am not sure how I felt about this book, on the one hand I respect the author for creating a character that was legitimately just a sociopath, and that the story wasn't redemptive. On the other hand, sometimes you just don't want to read about an unpleasant person.
A short, very funny read. Well worth it for both the humor and for the message about obsession with a particular text (or show or whatever). It makes you think, when you're a person like me.
Lots more at RB: http://wp.me/pGVzJ-q4
Lots more at RB: http://wp.me/pGVzJ-q4
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I found the premise of the book entertaining, but I think in some ways it was poorly executed. After all, as a slightly unstable recently graduated English major with no ambition, I should have felt some sense of real connection with the narrator, right? However, she's written in such a way that she comes off as very unlikeable, even to someone in a similar position. As someone who's read about psychopaths and creeps that have still somehow managed to garner sympathy, I think this book was somewhat of a swing and a miss. There are some pretty funny moments, but overall I found reading this book more frustrating than entertaining. Not one I'd highly recommend sadly!
I tried but after 30 pages couldn't force myself to invest more time in this book. Clearly the reviewers saw something I didn't!