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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
challenging
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
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The end is not really an end.
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It was... Not bad. But not amazing. I got lost at parts, especially near the end.
challenging
dark
emotional
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
“Maybe I’m just my father, and he’s just his father, and on and on, all the way back to Adam, so no one has ever really died, and no one has ever really lived.” —Hal Lancaster, page 266
i must admit, i’m not well-versed in shakespeare’s HENRIAD, so the modern retelling of it all eludes me, but it did make me slightly more inclined to read some of the plays, so maybe this is a win for bratton.
okay, so in the most normal way i can put this without sounding like an absolute freak, the on-page incest between hal and his father, henry, isn’t . . . as bad as i expected? it’s vile and immoral, yes, but the way bratton writes makes all their actions so inert which is so interesting because most of this book is a close third person pov on hal, and to be so distanced from him even when he’s being violated shows such a great sense of dissociation. a removal of oneself because, to hal, there is no self. there is a mirror, a reflection. a father, a father’s father, and so on. and, you know, bratton’s prose is actually one of the most fascinating parts of the novel to me. there’s this moshfegh-esque flagrancy to the diction: sensory experiences heightened to the point of past bearing.
anyway, i do think people should read more things that challenge them in ways that goes against their bounds of comfort. read this, or don’t! i wouldn’t say i “enjoyed” this novel, but i was moved by it. all right, love and light, guys!
On a sentence-level, the writing was really solid, sometimes excellent. However, producing compelling sentences and storytelling are two separate skills, and this author only possesses the first skill. I would give a second novel, on a different subject, a chance. I don’t think this one was worth my time.
thanks to the publisher for the eARC. this is just the kind of book I enjoy. Hal was a little bit like a sad puppy that’s just been kicked by its owner and left on the verandah of the local pub. this story felt regal and timeless in a way. it covers some pretty wild topics so I would advise to check trigger warnings if that’s your kind of thing.
dark
funny
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes