Reviews

Pure Juliet by Stella Gibbons

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courtneyhollyy's review against another edition

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challenging slow-paced

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

1.5

leighkayne's review

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Juliet is not a likeable character and I didn't care what happened to her or what she did. I was so bored.

What a strange book. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but what I got was an odd winding narrative about an (intentionally) unlikeable young woman: Juliet. She's clever and has lovely hair, but that's about all of her attractive traits. Meanwhile she's apathetic, socially inept, thin in a malnourished kind of way, uncouth, disinterested, ugly, mean... She's not a particularly likeable character, but that's not the point. She's an unusual main character because she's not beautiful or nice, and in fact doesn't really have any redeeming qualities at all. Hence she's maybe a little more uncomfortably real than some characters. Not everyone can be likeable, but that doesn't mean they don't have a story to tell.
So, Juliet of the Cockney lower-class cosies up to a rich old lady to get herself some peace and quiet to think about the one thing that interests her: coincidences. Will she work out what she's looking for? Will the rich lady's nephew make Juliet into a "real girl"? That's about all you'll find out.
The book's a little confused, and jumps ahead abruptly in the last third. It's an interesting concept for a story, I guess, just not much fun to read.

livijudd's review against another edition

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3.0

Really had to think about my rating for this one. I enjoyed the way it was written, but I couldn't warm to any of the characters (other than Emma, in the last few chapters). I felt the whole thing was a little too quirky, and it didn't really leave me with any lasting feelings towards any of the characters. I also found myself thinking "is that it" with the ending (no spoilers!). However, I will be checking out Stella Gibbon's other works, as I think my issue was more with the story than the writing.