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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
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:
Yes
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It was an interesting read and a world that I was very curious about and wanted to come to understand, but the mysteries and motivations of all of these characters were hard for me to hook onto, I think purposefully kept ambiguous for a long time. I felt the experimentation within the storytelling and I appreciated that; however I felt a little confused about whether this story was more rooted in magical realism or horror. It took me a wildly long time to read, which I wasn’t expecting because usually stories like this catch me and keep me, but in the end it felt like a slog. Personally, the trenagery snark and voice turned me off, but I felt drawn most to Mo’s and Susanna’s characters.
This would have been much better if it were much shorter. This would have been a beautiful, haunting, eerie 450-page book. As it was, it was a bit sprawling and bloated with 200 pages that didn't need to be there.
At the best of times, Link's prose is thoughtful and poignant, painting complex characters into an uncanny, ancient struggle between life and death. In one chapter, she gives us the best portrayal of someone's life and death I have ever read, leaving me crying over a character who we knew very little about beforehand.
And with love in my heart for this weird contemporary fantasy- I'm glad I'm done reading this. Another review referred to The Book of Love's length as self-indulgent and I agree. Link has a lot to say, and wants to show every second of every character's experience through the week or so this book covers. Combined with the train-of-thought, meandering narration, it becomes a bit of a slog. A lot of the emotional investment I had dwindled with my patience and characters rehashing feelings, exposition, etc. The story could be told with similar artfulness with 100-200 fewer pages.
And with love in my heart for this weird contemporary fantasy- I'm glad I'm done reading this. Another review referred to The Book of Love's length as self-indulgent and I agree. Link has a lot to say, and wants to show every second of every character's experience through the week or so this book covers. Combined with the train-of-thought, meandering narration, it becomes a bit of a slog. A lot of the emotional investment I had dwindled with my patience and characters rehashing feelings, exposition, etc. The story could be told with similar artfulness with 100-200 fewer pages.
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
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:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Long, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Some parts were LOL funny, I appreciate the snark dripping from the mouth of these teens when dealing with underworld supernaturals with weird rules and ways of speaking.
A welcome break from reality to lose yourself in.
A welcome break from reality to lose yourself in.
I went into, The Book of Love, with high hopes as I really loved the premise and through this sounded really interesting but sadly it didn't work for me. I think it might work better for a younger audience than me but I just could get get engrossed into the book as it felt way to slow. However I do believe a lot of people will love this I am just not the right audience for this sadly.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated