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4.36 AVERAGE
4.36 AVERAGE
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
As always, Magda Szabo is able to heighten the tension and suspense. This follows a girl in a boarding school around the 1944. In this school, there is a statue called Abigail that is supposed to do good things for the girls. But when things actually happen attributed to Abigail, the protagonist starts wondering who actually is and how far her powers go.
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
lighthearted
slow-paced
Luv a good historical fiction!! We’re making a trend this year. This is an eye opening story about the Hungarian (German allys) resistance to said Germans/Nazis during WWII. Set through the perspective of a stubborn, but smart teen named Gina, Abigail (an insentient garden statue) helps the main character and her classmates (Jewish girls masked by the school staff) get through typical coming of age issues while also protecting them from imminent German invasion…
liked it! there's this distinct point in the book where gina is forced to grow up, bildungsroman style, and the prideful parts of her turning into courage and bravery is really touching to see. szabó is fantastic at writing suspense and drama, particularly capturing the indirect aggression from being ostracized, the type that's only told in what isn't being said. the ending is still really satisfying even though it doesn't come as a surprise. it's written with a clarity about the characters' emotional states that's very sensitive and makes sense with the narration (as almost a memoir style of storytelling) so i didn't find myself turned off by that. i think it's incredibly optimistic even in the face of fascism, as a reminder of the lives that can be saved from individual actions, unnoticed in the greater tragedy of war. there is resistance and hope... and the way that it's shown through the actions of a teenage girl is really refreshing.
>Be strong, she seemed to hear a voice telling her from that unknown place--possibly from outside the country. Be strong, my dearest love in all the world. Be strong, so that I too will have the strength for what I must do.
>Be strong, she seemed to hear a voice telling her from that unknown place--possibly from outside the country. Be strong, my dearest love in all the world. Be strong, so that I too will have the strength for what I must do.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The matula was a fortress indeed, one that even as a reader, I felt that I was a member of. Georgina Vitay represents the reckoning that every girl goes through once they realise that their myopic lamentations are nothing in comparison to the harrowing realities of real-life tragedies. It definitely reflects upon experiences I’ve had being my father’s daughter, and the forced exit out of naïveté once the direness of more pressing matters such as loss, devastation, and political turmoil are brought into consciousness. I felt that the book was slow at first, seeing that it seemingly followed Gina acclimatising to the regimented, unpleasant environment of the matula. However, as the book progressed, and as more tea parties took place, I was engrossed and the mental shift occurred when Gina’s father delivers the revelation that recontextualises her woes.
Also, as horrible a place as the matula seems, I would love to be apart of the insular community of the girls within it. I want to attend mitsy horn’s tea parties. Also, let’s talk about the Abigail reveal because I was floored.
Also, as horrible a place as the matula seems, I would love to be apart of the insular community of the girls within it. I want to attend mitsy horn’s tea parties. Also, let’s talk about the Abigail reveal because I was floored.
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes