Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I do not get the point of this book.
Great read even if the concept was a little over the top (Perfection). I loved the character and how the story worked so well around her.
challenging
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Love the premise, but I found the book confusing.
Claire North is an absolute gem of a writer. I felt a slight disconnect from this book, but it may have been because I took a 10 day trip between starting and finishing! I hate having to read books in more than 2 or 3 sittings!
adventurous
mysterious
tense
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
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-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
It's an easy read despite how long it is. I was in from the very beginning and towards the middle I was incredibly hooked. I loved Hope's perspective, and how the novel takes her superpower/curse to its logical conclusions. I also loved the social commentary about the relationship between capitalism and beauty standards. However, the denouement felt too long and it took me a while to finish the last few chapters.
I'm afraid this book was a disappointment. I loved North's previous work, especially the Gameshouse trilogy, but Hope failed everywhere where Gameshouse excelled.
Hope Arden is forgotten by the world. She can walk around people and interact with them, but almost as soon as they stop focusing on her, they forget she ever existed. They make up explanations to why they did what they did with her, now that they can't remember her ever being there. This is a curse, but Hope learns to live around that, making the best of being able to steal something right in front of the owner's eyes, and still they'll forget they ever saw it stolen as soon as she gets out of sight.
I loved this premise, which continues on the "what ifs" that are at the core of much of North's work. But this time, everything feels so much sloppier. The writing isn't as tight, the voices of the different characters all sound the same. The narrative is more schtick than style. The book reminded me a lot of Chuck Palahniuk's horror-ish books (Diary, Lullaby), in both themes and narrative style. I half expected North to make a reference to cornflower blue at some point... The Perfection app, the anti-consumerist thread that goes through all his work (albeit with a more Black Mirror-esque angle to it, to fit the times).
But while I love Palahniuk's stuff, it just didn't work here. Maybe because the book was just so unreasonably long. It felt like it could seriously use some pruning and editing. Repetitive digressions that did nothing to build atmosphere or characters or move the plot along, the pointless bouts of swearing - so frequent that they lose any dramatic effect they might have had. The random factoids that served no purpose as far as I could tell (and felt like they were directly lifted from Palahniuk's style, actually -- I'm not saying she did, just that she might as well have).
The truth is I barely got myself to finish the book, and when I finally got there, I didn't feel like I was rewarded for that effort - the ending was bland and added nothing to my appreciation of the book.
I'm not losing hope in Claire North, not yet. But I will certainly be less giddy about her next book.
Hope Arden is forgotten by the world. She can walk around people and interact with them, but almost as soon as they stop focusing on her, they forget she ever existed. They make up explanations to why they did what they did with her, now that they can't remember her ever being there. This is a curse, but Hope learns to live around that, making the best of being able to steal something right in front of the owner's eyes, and still they'll forget they ever saw it stolen as soon as she gets out of sight.
I loved this premise, which continues on the "what ifs" that are at the core of much of North's work. But this time, everything feels so much sloppier. The writing isn't as tight, the voices of the different characters all sound the same. The narrative is more schtick than style. The book reminded me a lot of Chuck Palahniuk's horror-ish books (Diary, Lullaby), in both themes and narrative style. I half expected North to make a reference to cornflower blue at some point... The Perfection app, the anti-consumerist thread that goes through all his work (albeit with a more Black Mirror-esque angle to it, to fit the times).
But while I love Palahniuk's stuff, it just didn't work here. Maybe because the book was just so unreasonably long. It felt like it could seriously use some pruning and editing. Repetitive digressions that did nothing to build atmosphere or characters or move the plot along, the pointless bouts of swearing - so frequent that they lose any dramatic effect they might have had. The random factoids that served no purpose as far as I could tell (and felt like they were directly lifted from Palahniuk's style, actually -- I'm not saying she did, just that she might as well have).
The truth is I barely got myself to finish the book, and when I finally got there, I didn't feel like I was rewarded for that effort - the ending was bland and added nothing to my appreciation of the book.
I'm not losing hope in Claire North, not yet. But I will certainly be less giddy about her next book.
Me ha gustado muchísimo la crítica social (con información muy interesante), la trama (muy original) y la forma de escribir (muy real). No le he puesto cinco estrellas porque la segunda mitad pudo haberse resumido un poco más, porque la primera sí que fue superadictiva. ¡Seguiré la pista a la autora sin duda!
No me ha gustado tanto como Harry August, pero aun así me ha gustado mucho. Le hubiera quitado buena parte del componente thriller y hubiera dejado más Hope en estado puro. Ya me explayaré más en en blog.