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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
dark
medium-paced
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I liked this book a lot! Really important reflections on the combination of high-pressure and self-obsession that is so common, esp for young and new adults rn.
There were some good moments & comments on reliability /deception, but overall it just wasn’t quite my cup of tea
thrilling, immersive, didnt quite meet its potential for me tho
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What a weird, quirky book!
I started this awhile back, got about 50 pages in and set it down. I actually finished the rest of the book in one sitting. This qualifies as a dark academia for me. There is also some queer representation in the book.
The setting of historical academia also applies a bit as it is a boarding school that is based around one reference point.
This is very teenage drama to the extreme, so be ready to tackle subjects like manipulation, narcissism, death, suicide, and even potential eating/health disorders.
I think Burton did an amazing job of keeping you enraptured by the characters. Their choices made sense even when they didn't. The plot moved forward all the time, there were few to no lulls in the story. It also progressed over a longer period of time, which I happen to prefer.
If you want a dark fiction - grab this. It doesn't have a happy ending so consider yourself warned, but the writing is impressive enough that that's okay.
I started this awhile back, got about 50 pages in and set it down. I actually finished the rest of the book in one sitting. This qualifies as a dark academia for me. There is also some queer representation in the book.
The setting of historical academia also applies a bit as it is a boarding school that is based around one reference point.
This is very teenage drama to the extreme, so be ready to tackle subjects like manipulation, narcissism, death, suicide, and even potential eating/health disorders.
I think Burton did an amazing job of keeping you enraptured by the characters. Their choices made sense even when they didn't. The plot moved forward all the time, there were few to no lulls in the story. It also progressed over a longer period of time, which I happen to prefer.
If you want a dark fiction - grab this. It doesn't have a happy ending so consider yourself warned, but the writing is impressive enough that that's okay.
A fairly interesting criticism of academia that ultimately left me wanting more.
The World Cannot Give has an interesting premise and an engaging writing style that helped pull me into the story. I liked the consistency of the atmosphere, and I liked the way intensity built over the course of the story.
I did have some problems with the actual execution of the premise and the way the book attempts to engage with its own themes. I feel like the criticism of academia presented in the book are fairly surface level--pretty much just pointing out that they exist without saying anything new about it. I was a fairly simple observation--that it can be elitist and exclusionary, and that (shockingly) people that cling to 'tradition' might just not be the most open and accepting people.
Similarly, a lot of this book hinges on the belief that Virginia holds some sway and power--but I can't buy it. I cannot for the life of me see what about her is supposed to be so magnetic. The narrative tells us that people hate Virginia, but also that people love her, or at least revere her? In the world of the story, she is not interesting enough to hold attention, and as a character she tells me nothing about the overall themes in the story. She just isn't complex enough for me. Her and Bonnie are supposed to represent opposite sides of the same problem, I suppose. With the whole identifying yourself with an ideology or aesthetic and losing yourself to that. But it didn't go deep enough.
And I think that was my overall problem with the book. It is not as complex as it wants to be. It's bones are all there, but it just need a little bit more to be substantial. I can see where Burton was going, we just never reached our destination. It was not the dark academia I was looking for.
That being said, I did not hate the book by any means. Burton is clearly a talented writer, her prose is engaging. And I like the ambition. I am interested to see what else she writes or has written.
The World Cannot Give has an interesting premise and an engaging writing style that helped pull me into the story. I liked the consistency of the atmosphere, and I liked the way intensity built over the course of the story.
I did have some problems with the actual execution of the premise and the way the book attempts to engage with its own themes. I feel like the criticism of academia presented in the book are fairly surface level--pretty much just pointing out that they exist without saying anything new about it. I was a fairly simple observation--that it can be elitist and exclusionary, and that (shockingly) people that cling to 'tradition' might just not be the most open and accepting people.
Similarly, a lot of this book hinges on the belief that Virginia holds some sway and power--but I can't buy it. I cannot for the life of me see what about her is supposed to be so magnetic.
Spoiler
like to the point where she could convince a staunch independent feminist to kill a bunch of people and then herself??)And I think that was my overall problem with the book. It is not as complex as it wants to be. It's bones are all there, but it just need a little bit more to be substantial. I can see where Burton was going, we just never reached our destination. It was not the dark academia I was looking for.
That being said, I did not hate the book by any means. Burton is clearly a talented writer, her prose is engaging. And I like the ambition. I am interested to see what else she writes or has written.
dark
tense
medium-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
not enjoying the writing; very dialogue heavy & flat characters that are hard to take seriously
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes