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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
Vapid book about prep school, I shouldn’t have let Tiktok tell me what to read. This book wasn’t good at all, the characters were all equally terrible and it was written like a terrible teen movie. Bah I finished the last two chapters as an audiobook at work and it somehow was even worse.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
tense
medium-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
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-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
The World Cannot Give is one of those novels that sounds so perfect yet somehow misses the mark. Dark academia, a pretentious private school, and obsession—now that’s a recipe for a great novel so I’m not sure where we went wrong. I wish there was more of an atmospheric quality to the book as we have the dark academia setting but we are missing the descriptive language to really paint the picture. A novel that takes place in a similar setting that did a great job at this was Catherine House, which I absolutely loved. However, there were aspects of this read that I think were well done. The obsession that our main character has for her peer Virginia and their suppressed sexuality combined with religious ideologies was one of the more interesting elements of the novel. It definitely gave me Black Swan (the movie) vibes. I do wish that our protagonist Laura had more character development as there are times where I thought she was going to break out of her shell and rebel against Virginia (or be driven to madness)but she remains fairly meek for the duration of the novel. This novel is very slow paced and to be honest not a whole lot happens for 90% of the story. However, the ending was so shocking that it single handedly redeemed the otherwise fairly dull storyline. I think it’s worth the read but it will not be making it into my top dark academia reads.
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The World Cannot Give gave literally everything I want in a dark academia:
(A) boarding school youths grappling with pretentious ideology, showcasing both the folly and idealism of youth,
(B) tragic scenes inevitably involving some dramatic cliffs a short walk from the dorms,
(C) queer characters, and
(D) unhinged consequences of extreme obsession.
This is a story about obsession - Virginia's obsession with becoming World-Historical in the face of a sclerotic modern world, Bonnie's obsession with aesthetics, Isobel's obsession with rebellion, and Laura's obsession with seeking a shipwreck of the soul. Laura joins the choir and soon loses herself in her obsession with Virginia, who detests moral relativism and sex and aesthetics in the name of being Serious.
When you're young and vulnerable and open to possibility, it's easy to yearn for transcendence, relevance, a place in the world, to feel important. In this case, so many of the characters misplaced their devotion and as a result created a prison for themselves, when all they really wanted was to be loved and liked.
In addition to the above, I think Burton explored the topics of religious tradition and sexual repression really well.
Taking off one star because although I don't think it was necessary to include any additional color to Webster's idealology to show how easy it is for obsession to take root, I do wish Burton further explored the dangers of blindly worshipping old white men in academia. One review I read mentoned that one of the few POC characters has a line about not signing the petition on principle that institutions like St. Duncan are built on inequality and we should be more critical of the old white men who built these elitist schools before romanticizing their traditions, and I wish that were explored as much as the dangers of obsessing over sociopathic Virginia.
(A) boarding school youths grappling with pretentious ideology, showcasing both the folly and idealism of youth,
(B) tragic scenes inevitably involving some dramatic cliffs a short walk from the dorms,
(C) queer characters, and
(D) unhinged consequences of extreme obsession.
This is a story about obsession - Virginia's obsession with becoming World-Historical in the face of a sclerotic modern world, Bonnie's obsession with aesthetics, Isobel's obsession with rebellion, and Laura's obsession with seeking a shipwreck of the soul. Laura joins the choir and soon loses herself in her obsession with Virginia, who detests moral relativism and sex and aesthetics in the name of being Serious.
When you're young and vulnerable and open to possibility, it's easy to yearn for transcendence, relevance, a place in the world, to feel important. In this case, so many of the characters misplaced their devotion and as a result created a prison for themselves, when all they really wanted was to be loved and liked.
In addition to the above, I think Burton explored the topics of religious tradition and sexual repression really well.
Taking off one star because although I don't think it was necessary to include any additional color to Webster's idealology to show how easy it is for obsession to take root, I do wish Burton further explored the dangers of blindly worshipping old white men in academia. One review I read mentoned that one of the few POC characters has a line about not signing the petition on principle that institutions like St. Duncan are built on inequality and we should be more critical of the old white men who built these elitist schools before romanticizing their traditions, and I wish that were explored as much as the dangers of obsessing over sociopathic Virginia.
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Okay, I would have liked this book if:
- we get rid of the main character completely
- set it from Isobel's POV
- Virginia is outrightly, explicitly awful, and we aren't half confused about whether her actions were being justified the whole time
- it's a story about coming to terms with the fact that the person you are in love with is outrightly, explicitly awful, rather than whatever it actually was about
- I didn't have to read about people trying to justify awful historical figures
- the Churchy stuff made me want to pull my hair out slightly less (though I suppose this is personal preference)
- sewer slide is less romanticised
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-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
This is one of those books where you marvel at the creativity of other people’s brains. I enjoyed the precise inter-character relationship building, touch of realism lended by the deep knowledge of Anglican prayer hymns, plus a climax that left my jaw agape. This book was set in a prep school backdrop that generates the best kind of juicy gossip intrigue, but the author melds the drama with deeper philosophical questions. The author slowly reveals details to you, so that it takes a while for you to realize what’s happening - but it’s already too late. Great read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Suicide
adventurous
mysterious
tense
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