Scan barcode
esme_bonner's review against another edition
This was heavy, and literary, but also quite fun. For me, I just reached a point where too many uncomfortable things were happening at once to have the bandwidth to deal with.
Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Incest
Moderate: Sexual content, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Pedophilia, Drug use, and Addiction
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, and Blood
mariavdl's review
challenging
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
0.5
Graphic: Gaslighting, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Incest, Sexual assault, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Self harm and Vomit
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, Death of parent, Blood, Eating disorder, and Death
mmccombs's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.5
While the writing and developed themes were incredibly compelling, I mostly found reading this to be a chore. I had a difficult time getting into this, I was not really into Hal as a character so I never quite felt motivated to pick the book up.
However, once we got to the incident with Harry Percy, I suddenly felt invested. I loved the charm between these characters, the way their differences and similarities bounced off one another.
But then the energy and momentum of the story kind of fizzled out for me, a lot of the action felt repetitive and I was waiting for a bit more development from these characters.
I did love the connection between Catholicism (and a lot of guilt), Hal’s relationship with his father (complicated, to say the least), the long line of history that tethered this family together, and the Shakespearian-ness of it all. The sentence-level craft of it was well done, so even though the story didn’t totally work for me, the structure of it did.
I have a feeling that this will be a polarizing book people will have opinions about, but if you are a reader that prefers (messy) character-driven novels, enjoyed the Henriad (or maybe even Succession), and are down for some privileged white boy drama, I think this will be a book for you.
Thanks to NetGalley and Unnamed Press for the eARC!
However, once we got to the incident with Harry Percy, I suddenly felt invested. I loved the charm between these characters, the way their differences and similarities bounced off one another.
But then the energy and momentum of the story kind of fizzled out for me, a lot of the action felt repetitive and I was waiting for a bit more development from these characters.
I did love the connection between Catholicism (and a lot of guilt), Hal’s relationship with his father (complicated, to say the least), the long line of history that tethered this family together, and the Shakespearian-ness of it all. The sentence-level craft of it was well done, so even though the story didn’t totally work for me, the structure of it did.
I have a feeling that this will be a polarizing book people will have opinions about, but if you are a reader that prefers (messy) character-driven novels, enjoyed the Henriad (or maybe even Succession), and are down for some privileged white boy drama, I think this will be a book for you.
Thanks to NetGalley and Unnamed Press for the eARC!
Graphic: Incest, Sexual content, Child abuse, Death, Rape, Domestic abuse, and Drug use
Moderate: Medical content and Injury/Injury detail
More...