Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Anne Collins

180 reviews

theirgracegrace's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

A literary classic, Gatsby centres around the party host and smuggler Jay Gatsby. A man of "new wealth" in the rich part of Long Island, he secretly harbours a deep love for the wife of a nearby family, whom he has known for years. As the narrator Nick Carraway learns more about the enigmatic Gatsby, the more events begin to conspire to topple the self-made man from his throne.

I first read this book in English class in high school but did not remember a single part of it. I enjoyed re-reading it now and remembering all of the symbolism, the plot, the characterization of both Gatsby and Nick. I would not recommend it if you struggle with purple prose, as Fitzgerald can get flowery with descriptions or use some (now) obscure term for seemingly no reason. The plot is fairly straightforward and predictable, and because of the third-person narration it is hard to understand Gatsby's motivations. An enjoyable read nonetheless!
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ellie_girl2929's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

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pookiee's review against another edition

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  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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xinawebb's review against another edition

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slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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jenmaysiereads's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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bookworm_1c's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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dmrains's review against another edition

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  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

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avery_hutchinson's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The narrator of the audiobook was very good. The characters seemed superficial at times, but overall the story of the book was very classic and showed wealth in the gilded age of America.
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ldpaige's review against another edition

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sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The slowest clap imaginable. Wow.

The epigraph now claws at my soul after finishing:

Then wear the gold hat, if that will move her;
If you can bounce high, bounce for her too,
Til he cry "Lover, gold-hatted, high-bouncing lover,
I must have you!"
- Thomas Parke D'Invilliers
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wheatlyre's review against another edition

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medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I will preface my review with the fact I read The Great Gatsby in a classroom setting, with a chapter-per-week pacing, as it was for an English assignment, and very little out of class reading; which I feel should be noted, as the way I interacted with and read the book was slightly different than how I would in a recreational/normal environment.
I liked The Great Gatsby quite a bit, and while I found my feelings for most of the characters to be on a spectrum of apathy to (just barely not) hatred as people, they are interesting characters, and you could find a lot of depth through speculation over them. There are a few lines and descriptions that I found quite revealing regarding the underlying feelings and motivations of some of the characters, especially
Daisy Buchanan, Jay Gatsby (aka James Gatz), and Tom Buchanan
, but that you might normally ignore or look past.
While I did enjoy it, there were some areas that felt slightly dull or dragged out, to the point I felt I had to skip though a bit my first read through, then re-read after finishing the chapter for additional context in the later scenes.
Nick Carroway, the narrator, skips through the summer while telling the story. He keeps the timeline linear, so it could feel a bit off-putting in the moment when he would mention seemingly random events between parties and dinners with acquaintances, but the events do all have actual meaning for being there, biggest reason being to build characterization and foreshadow future reveals or events. 
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