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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Violence
Moderate: Blood
oh my god this book fucking sucks. these characters are trite and obnoxious. the writing style is that of a 5th grader really obsessed with glee and riverdale. this is so bad.
dark
fast-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
very quick read, very interesting. not much to say. i enjoyed.
2.5 ⭐️
Cool concept but definitely needed to be more fleshed out
Cool concept but definitely needed to be more fleshed out
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you to Simon and Schuster for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review!❤️
Laura Stearns wants nothing more than to experience a “shipwreck of the soul”, just like the protagonist of her favorite book. Unfortunately, this shipwreck extends beyond her character. The World Cannot Give is a mess. It has the makings of a riveting dark academia novel, but is bogged down by the very pretentiousness it seeks to subvert. It is three different novels trying to mesh into one. It is so ideologically confusing and unstable that its empty protagonist appears robust in comparison. But what truly doomed this book is the poor editing. I honestly cannot believe I received a corrected ARC. Not only is the plot all over the place, but it is riddled with grammatical errors and inconsistencies. I can see a plethora of ideas—the romanticization of the past heralded as “tradition” by religious extremists, a Nate Jacobs-esque examination of how repressed sexuality can catalyze as violence, the way men view women as objects of desire rather than human beings. But the story failed to successfully intertwine these ideas. I felt like I was reading about the same, flat characters being plugged into random scenarios. By the time I reached the third act, I knew I would be disappointed. The writing had completely fallen apart, the themes were jumbled in a last-ditch attempt to be coherent, and reading the end was one of the most dissatisfying reading experiences I’ve ever had.
In short—it did not give. It only took. Took valuable time I could have spent reading something better.
Laura Stearns wants nothing more than to experience a “shipwreck of the soul”, just like the protagonist of her favorite book. Unfortunately, this shipwreck extends beyond her character. The World Cannot Give is a mess. It has the makings of a riveting dark academia novel, but is bogged down by the very pretentiousness it seeks to subvert. It is three different novels trying to mesh into one. It is so ideologically confusing and unstable that its empty protagonist appears robust in comparison. But what truly doomed this book is the poor editing. I honestly cannot believe I received a corrected ARC. Not only is the plot all over the place, but it is riddled with grammatical errors and inconsistencies. I can see a plethora of ideas—the romanticization of the past heralded as “tradition” by religious extremists, a Nate Jacobs-esque examination of how repressed sexuality can catalyze as violence, the way men view women as objects of desire rather than human beings. But the story failed to successfully intertwine these ideas. I felt like I was reading about the same, flat characters being plugged into random scenarios. By the time I reached the third act, I knew I would be disappointed. The writing had completely fallen apart, the themes were jumbled in a last-ditch attempt to be coherent, and reading the end was one of the most dissatisfying reading experiences I’ve ever had.
In short—it did not give. It only took. Took valuable time I could have spent reading something better.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If you know me, you know I love dark academia. If you know me, you know I love pretentious books and pretentious people. If you know me, you know I love sapphics. So just imagine my disappointment when I say this book is horrendous. I got These Violent Delights (by Micah Nemerever) vibes here at first but clearly I was mistaken. TVD isn’t even dark academia. The setting was utter shit and I didn’t care for it. The characters were boring and I wasn’t interested with anyone. (Also can we talk about the fact that Burton gave me that amazing first lines only for the rest of the book to be horrible? Criminal.) It was dragging and there were so many unnecessary informations. All the necessary informations weren’t even here. The characters weren’t given any interesting backgrounds especially our poor protagonist Laura, her only personality here is being Virginia’s avid worshipper.
See, I love obsessed people. I love obsessed sapphics, but this was such a huge let down on my part. I heard a lot of amazing things about this book so I was highly anticipating to read it. But meh I just got disappointed. The “conflict” felt so anticlimactic to me that I didn’t even realize it was the conflict. I would’ve given this 2 stars but it is just so bad I have no more words to say.
See, I love obsessed people. I love obsessed sapphics, but this was such a huge let down on my part. I heard a lot of amazing things about this book so I was highly anticipating to read it. But meh I just got disappointed. The “conflict” felt so anticlimactic to me that I didn’t even realize it was the conflict. I would’ve given this 2 stars but it is just so bad I have no more words to say.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I struggled with a rating for this book but I was surprised to love it. The World Cannot Give is a very dark academia story of struggling to fit in both in school and in the world. Think Bunny by Mona Awad but focused on a religious prep school.
My personal struggle with this book was that it has some awkward writing choices and I am not very religious. However, the plot twist and character growth was great! If you love DA, this book is a wonderful and sinister option.
My personal struggle with this book was that it has some awkward writing choices and I am not very religious. However, the plot twist and character growth was great! If you love DA, this book is a wonderful and sinister option.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry
Moderate: Suicide, Blood, Lesbophobia, Alcohol
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Fire/Fire injury
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes