4.16 AVERAGE


I finished! Finally! Wow. That was a journey. I had the benefit of reading this without having ever seen the musical or knowing anything about the story. So a I had completely fresh eyes and no preconceived notions.

The story is amazing. Just fantastic. The story is what got me through the entire book. But so much of the book is not the story. So much of the book is philosophical treatise and social commentary. Vast vast sections of the book are only very loosely tied to the plot. I’m sure they helped deepen my understanding of the characters actions and the significance of the events but... it was tough going.

I’m glad I read the whole thing, but if I were to recommend it to someone else I would recommend an abridged version that primarily just told the story. I would have enjoyed it more that way.
dark emotional sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
adventurous emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

standardgoose's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 48%

So. Damn. Long.
dark hopeful informative inspiring slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
emotional inspiring medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
adventurous challenging emotional inspiring reflective slow-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