Reviews

First Love by Ivan Turgenev

lily23's review

emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

abbeyking's review against another edition

to-read

munjoyu's review against another edition

4.0

This short story is about unhappy and sad one-sided love.
Compared to this, the love in "Romeo and Juliet" or "Titanic" is a happy one albeit with their unhappy endings.
The teenage protagonist ("I") in this story has a crush on an older girl and the girl has a crush on the boy's father.
The madness of the girl's love seems even greater and more unhappy than that of the protagonist's
I wonder what the percentage of this kind of unhappy love might be compared to the happy one in the real world.

miaautrey's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

4.0

btrlymv's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

4.0

lizsauce's review

emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

neyssar's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I’m not sure if the ending was supposed to be a plot twist because the author dropped lots of hints for the reader so I was able to figure out the mystery before it was revealed. However, It made me really anxious waiting for the main character to make the discovery. 

This book was a good book to finish in a day! Filled me with lots of rage and anxiety.

gingerliss's review against another edition

5.0

This is one of those novels, or rather novellas, that proves that a story can be beautiful without being hugely quantitative. There is so much in this 107 page novella. A sad, but beautiful story, although slightly disturbing at times. It is a romance, a mystery, a coming-of-age story, and a tragedy all in one. My first, finished, Russian work. Highly enjoyable and not difficult to read. Definitely a great introduction to Russian literature. Now I wish I knew Russian so I could read the original and unfortunately I don't think it very likely that I will ever manage to get around to learning the Russian language.

jugglemisterer's review

reflective 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? No

Book club read

staakcaravaan's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-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? No

4.5