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cballar5's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I received this ARC through netgalley in return for an honest review.
What a roller coaster! I was unprepared for this to say the least. I have never read Great Expectations, but this book almost makes me want to (I just don’t love Dickens). The plot is split; we have a past Estella who her mother is honing to be a weapon of revenge against all men, and current Estella, who realizes she has to form her own life. The plot is interesting, but not overly so. More intriguing than anything, I wanted to know more about why her mother was the way she was. Definitely a character driven book, but the plot wasn’t bad.
The characters… the only truly lovable character is Pip. By the end, I liked Estrella and her mother, and maybe even Yvette, but that’s truthfully the only characters I enjoyed and connected with. This is intentional, though, as this book has LOTS of villains (even Estrella is a villain for a bit). They have dimension and are well thought out, even if some of the characters are a bit… stuck in their ways.
The writing was surprisingly easy to read. When I went into this, I did not realize it was written in formal English. That being said, it isn’t overly superfluous or difficult to read. I was pleasantly surprised to see how quickly I could absorb the authors words and meanings considering most of what I read nowadays is pretty modern fiction.
All in all, I enjoyed this. There’s even a bit of LGBT+ representation, which is nice for a book set in this time period. I won’t say it’s my favorite book ever, but it has a nice redemption arc. I wonder what happens to her after the conclusion of the book, but I appreciate how the author ended it. 3.75⭐️
What a roller coaster! I was unprepared for this to say the least. I have never read Great Expectations, but this book almost makes me want to (I just don’t love Dickens). The plot is split; we have a past Estella who her mother is honing to be a weapon of revenge against all men, and current Estella, who realizes she has to form her own life. The plot is interesting, but not overly so. More intriguing than anything, I wanted to know more about why her mother was the way she was. Definitely a character driven book, but the plot wasn’t bad.
The characters… the only truly lovable character is Pip. By the end, I liked Estrella and her mother, and maybe even Yvette, but that’s truthfully the only characters I enjoyed and connected with. This is intentional, though, as this book has LOTS of villains (even Estrella is a villain for a bit). They have dimension and are well thought out, even if some of the characters are a bit… stuck in their ways.
The writing was surprisingly easy to read. When I went into this, I did not realize it was written in formal English. That being said, it isn’t overly superfluous or difficult to read. I was pleasantly surprised to see how quickly I could absorb the authors words and meanings considering most of what I read nowadays is pretty modern fiction.
All in all, I enjoyed this. There’s even a bit of LGBT+ representation, which is nice for a book set in this time period. I won’t say it’s my favorite book ever, but it has a nice redemption arc. I wonder what happens to her after the conclusion of the book, but I appreciate how the author ended it. 3.75⭐️
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Rape
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