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maeriaen's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-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
3.0
whogivesabook's review
4.0
A tonic this one. A short read but a really strong one.
‘This vivid, sensitive tale of adolescent love follows a 16-year-old boy who falls in love with a beautiful, older woman and experiences a whirlwind of changing emotions, from exaltation and jealousy to despair and devotion.’
This one really spoke to me. You have to love an Estella-esque character. There must have been something in the water because the character of Zinaida in this book is very similar in spirit to Estella in Great Expectations. Maybe women back then were just build different, who can say? If you do know why this is, please enlighten me. Other examples of these kinds of characters in action are welcome too. I love reading them for some reason.
Zinaida is a young woman of formidable control. Both over herself and the environment and people surrounding her. To have poor Petrovich caught in her web. To watch him assess the other men caught and their self-debasement. And to read as he and others still gladly choose their subjugation. A ‘chef kiss’ of a story.
I loved the relationship between Vladimir Petrovich and his father Pyotr Vasilyevich. The man looking back on his childhood and that core relationship.
Spectacular twist, well breadcrumbed too - you get that splendid moment of.... ‘Ohhhh... oh no!’
Perfect. Having a good run of books lately.
‘This vivid, sensitive tale of adolescent love follows a 16-year-old boy who falls in love with a beautiful, older woman and experiences a whirlwind of changing emotions, from exaltation and jealousy to despair and devotion.’
This one really spoke to me. You have to love an Estella-esque character. There must have been something in the water because the character of Zinaida in this book is very similar in spirit to Estella in Great Expectations. Maybe women back then were just build different, who can say? If you do know why this is, please enlighten me. Other examples of these kinds of characters in action are welcome too. I love reading them for some reason.
Zinaida is a young woman of formidable control. Both over herself and the environment and people surrounding her. To have poor Petrovich caught in her web. To watch him assess the other men caught and their self-debasement. And to read as he and others still gladly choose their subjugation. A ‘chef kiss’ of a story.
I loved the relationship between Vladimir Petrovich and his father Pyotr Vasilyevich. The man looking back on his childhood and that core relationship.
Spectacular twist, well breadcrumbed too - you get that splendid moment of.... ‘Ohhhh... oh no!’
Perfect. Having a good run of books lately.
joaovn's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
lyx's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
hannpage's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
vpetra416's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.75
alexandra296's review against another edition
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
Interesting and well written but not particularly moving.
Characterisation is decent - we get a good glimpse into our narrator Vladmir's thoughts and he seems like a plausible person. I wouldn’t say he’s easy to like but I do tend to find it easy to sympathise with young or very emotional narrators, so I can excuse his slightly one-track thoughts. We don't really get multisided views of our characters because the scope of the novella is pretty short. So there's no real character development. Interestingly no-one gets their comeuppance or learns a lesson, which I feel is unusual (but not necessarily bad).
Fairly short in plot (its a short book) and the premise isn’t particularly creative but its a nice and fast read. Well paced and I think the structure worked well. Very romantic type writing. This story is a little darker than the title might suggest and I enjoyed the almost sinister aspect of Zinaida's manipulations or foreboding tone of Looshin.
Writing is obviously fine, first person limited, very much focused on out protagonist Vladmir's emotions.
Characterisation is decent - we get a good glimpse into our narrator Vladmir's thoughts and he seems like a plausible person. I wouldn’t say he’s easy to like but I do tend to find it easy to sympathise with young or very emotional narrators, so I can excuse his slightly one-track thoughts. We don't really get multisided views of our characters because the scope of the novella is pretty short. So there's no real character development. Interestingly no-one gets their comeuppance or learns a lesson, which I feel is unusual (but not necessarily bad).
Fairly short in plot (its a short book) and the premise isn’t particularly creative but its a nice and fast read. Well paced and I think the structure worked well. Very romantic type writing. This story is a little darker than the title might suggest and I enjoyed the almost sinister aspect of Zinaida's manipulations or foreboding tone of Looshin.
Writing is obviously fine, first person limited, very much focused on out protagonist Vladmir's emotions.