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dark
emotional
tense
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Homophobia, Sexual content, Vomit, Death of parent
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
you ever feel like a book was written specifically for you?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug use, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault
Moderate: Homophobia, Death of parent
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
i…. was not expecting the CSA/incest??? ? maybe if i knew shakespeare more then i would have? but it felt hard to enjoy a book centering around that. idk. i liked the way the author writes though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Incest
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Rape, Terminal illness
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
While the writing and developed themes were incredibly compelling, I mostly found reading this to be a chore. I had a difficult time getting into this, I was not really into Hal as a character so I never quite felt motivated to pick the book up.
However, once we got to the incident with Harry Percy, I suddenly felt invested. I loved the charm between these characters, the way their differences and similarities bounced off one another.
But then the energy and momentum of the story kind of fizzled out for me, a lot of the action felt repetitive and I was waiting for a bit more development from these characters.
I did love the connection between Catholicism (and a lot of guilt), Hal’s relationship with his father (complicated, to say the least), the long line of history that tethered this family together, and the Shakespearian-ness of it all. The sentence-level craft of it was well done, so even though the story didn’t totally work for me, the structure of it did.
I have a feeling that this will be a polarizing book people will have opinions about, but if you are a reader that prefers (messy) character-driven novels, enjoyed the Henriad (or maybe even Succession), and are down for some privileged white boy drama, I think this will be a book for you.
Thanks to NetGalley and Unnamed Press for the eARC!
However, once we got to the incident with Harry Percy, I suddenly felt invested. I loved the charm between these characters, the way their differences and similarities bounced off one another.
But then the energy and momentum of the story kind of fizzled out for me, a lot of the action felt repetitive and I was waiting for a bit more development from these characters.
I did love the connection between Catholicism (and a lot of guilt), Hal’s relationship with his father (complicated, to say the least), the long line of history that tethered this family together, and the Shakespearian-ness of it all. The sentence-level craft of it was well done, so even though the story didn’t totally work for me, the structure of it did.
I have a feeling that this will be a polarizing book people will have opinions about, but if you are a reader that prefers (messy) character-driven novels, enjoyed the Henriad (or maybe even Succession), and are down for some privileged white boy drama, I think this will be a book for you.
Thanks to NetGalley and Unnamed Press for the eARC!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Incest, Rape, Sexual content
Moderate: Medical content, Injury/Injury detail