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smart_girls_love_trashy_books's review
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
-POTENTIAL SPOILERS-
I really wanted to like this book. It has a lot going for it, such as being about time periods and countries not really explored in books. I was a bit cautious when I learned this was a translation, but still tried my best to get into it. My best was not enough.
The biggest issue was the fact that everything felt detached, distant and rushed. Much like when I read Kiku's Prayer, I don't know if this is from the original text, the translator, or a little bit of both, but it's why I can't really trust many translated books. Everything was just told, so it made the few character moments that I did like, that should've meant something, feel more like they came out of nowhere. Like the scene where she sees herself like the stolen artwork at the museum. That should've amounted to something, but it didn't. We're told she lost a child but it's just said and never mentioned again. And later on, when she miscarries at a ball and is traumatized over it, it completely skips over all of her trauma, saying 'it has been six months later'
The whole book is written in that very dry style so even though I should've liked this story about finding identity and love among a turbulent time, I couldn't. The characters feel very bland and one-note, many events are written like a textbook of the time, with major events spelled out as background information even though they don't have anything to do with the main story, and things just happen. The characters don't really develop or grow or feel any different. Even the huge event that the synopsis says happens, does happen....at the very end of the book. It's barely a climax in my opinion.
I wanted to like this book so much. It's a unique setting with good themes and the potential for good characters, but the style kills it. It's dull, dry, tells everything instead of showing it, and for half of it feels more like a textbook of the period. I keep giving translated books a chance because they write about interesting things you don't often see here in the West, but I have to also hope they are written in engaging ways, and so far that track record is terrible.
Graphic: Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Suicide
Moderate: Xenophobia
Minor: Death of parent and Miscarriage
lenaricharz's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Murder and Suicide
Moderate: Colonisation, Xenophobia, Violence, Racism, and Miscarriage
kaneebli's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Murder, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Racism, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Sexual content and Cultural appropriation
internationalreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Murder, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, and Xenophobia
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