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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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
I usually love lyrical, clever prose — but this felt less like storytelling and more like the author showing off in a mirror. Beautiful sentences? Absolutely. But also lots of Capitalised Concepts that seemed Deep and Important… until they got lost (or was that me?!). After a while, I started to wonder if even the commas were overthinking it.
While the writing is undeniably Skilful, full of introspection and Poetic flair, it often felt like Too Much for me. The dense, metaphor-heavy style demanded a lot of Concentration, and I found that the reward didn’t quite match the Effort. It was Beautiful in parts, but also Exhausting.
I also struggled to connect with the characters and the story. I found them frustrating and had difficulty caring much about what happened to them. This made it hard to stay emotionally invested, and I often felt Fed Up while reading.
The book did improve towards the end — the pace picked up, and the plot finally started to move forward — but for a novel under 400 pages, it felt much longer than it should have.
In the end, while I appreciated the Craftsmanship, Symbolism, Societal Critique, and how the Story eventually Came Together, reading it still felt like an Arduous Journey.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Vomit, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Abandonment, Sexual harassment
Minor: Animal cruelty
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It wasn’t the right time and I had to return the book to the library.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
The prose is vivid, and it is easy to catch yourself inside the book under the shades of the same mangosteen tree. On the other hand, the story is greatly disturbing, it left a mark on me that will scar for quite a while. There are handfuls of times that I almost teared up because of the circumstances of their fates. It was only nearing the end that I started bawling my eyes out; the small things were sublime…the promise of tomorrow is hopeful…the only act of love being the greatest loss. I will mourn the god of small things, along with his blossoming love that was nipped too early.