Reviews - A Separate Peace

2.21k reviews for:

Ugh. I had heard my friends from high school talk about how much they hated this book when they had to read it and thought perhaps hadn't been able to appreciate it as required reading. Turns out, it's just an awful book. Sympathy for the characters = 0. I kept turning pages against my will because a) I thought that there had to be SOMETHING redeeming about it (there's not) and b) because I was teaching it to 8th graders.

Besides the shoddy writing and boring plot/characters, the part that killed me was how Finny supposedly dies (some bone marrow from his broken leg gets into his blood stream then to his heart). This can't even HAPPEN. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.

jxhnnykang's review against another edition

4.25

challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

synoptic_view's review against another edition

After reading this for school, my friends and I started wearing ties as belts. We really wanted to make it catch on as a trend, but it didn't. Can't imagine why.

ketchupcord's review against another edition

2.75

dark reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: N/A

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

kimscozyreads's review against another edition

4.0

Not a fan of the ending at all but I like the way Knowles writes

geesammy's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous dark sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This story centers on how privileged young white boys navigated coming of age at the dawn of WW2. It focuses on their emotional conflicts within the context of the larger political landscape and how they bore the weight of expectations in opposition to their own desires. The writing is clear and crisp and the message has merit. However for me, the characters felt like unlikable paper dolls and the circumstances weren’t relatable. Overall though, I felt it was worth the read and I understand why this book is considered an American classic.