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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Beautiful novel. Slow and aching with a lot of feeling.
I listened to the audiobook with Cassandra Campbell and I really enjoyed what she added to the atmosphere - the voice of Therese really shone
I listened to the audiobook with Cassandra Campbell and I really enjoyed what she added to the atmosphere - the voice of Therese really shone
SOOOOOO slow. And I absolutely did not care about the characters at all.
emotional
reflective
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
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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:
Yes
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
i read this after watching carol and found that it rly cleared up a lot of (purposeful) ambiguities in the film for me. highsmith writes such a rich inner life for therese and it was lowkey beautiful to see how ugly and beautiful and impulsive and loving we can be, all laid out in plain sight.
i love the way that therese observes carol. i found the insights to be so simple and mind-bending at the same time. of course carol would react the same to a yes or a no - of course the only time this illusion breaks is when she fully lays her heart on her sleeve. they're both cruel to each other and snappy and cross but idk. there's something more than that, something that's more tangible than tangible things that holds them together.
i love the way that therese observes carol. i found the insights to be so simple and mind-bending at the same time. of course carol would react the same to a yes or a no - of course the only time this illusion breaks is when she fully lays her heart on her sleeve. they're both cruel to each other and snappy and cross but idk. there's something more than that, something that's more tangible than tangible things that holds them together.
3 stars. I can definitely see why it’s a classic. The writing is absolutely gorgeous and I did like the plot, as simple as it was. I just didn’t care for any of the characters, the romance, and the pacing of this was all over the place. I wanted to like the main character, Therese, but there was something about her that I just didn’t like. She wasn’t bad or anything but she didn’t grow on me. Carol was fine but I felt she was a bit all over the place. I didn’t understand their relationship and a lot of times Carol acted like she couldn’t stand Therese so that was weird as well. I don’t know, I’m glad that I’ve finally read it and I definitely am interested in picking up more of Highsmith’s work but this one didn’t blow me away unfortunately.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I think after reading the Talented Mr. Ripley, I kept waiting for something slightly sinister to happen here. But that never happened, so the story felt a little boring to me - which is not this book's fault, it's my fault for having an expectation based on the author's previous work. But after doing a little research and having a little more historical context for author and this unique little book, I have a better appreciation for it.