Reviews - The World Cannot Give

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542 reviews for:

The World Cannot Give

Tara Isabella Burton

3.57 AVERAGE

kl_books's review against another edition

3.5

dark emotional mysterious tense 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

alicihonest's review against another edition

5.0

dark reflective tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

xx_demy's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious reflective 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

fxcethesnow's review against another edition

5.0

five stars. what the HELL DID I JUST READ??? i am pleasantly confused in the best way possible but im also angry and i want to reread. thank you laura sterns for fooling me into thinking that i was nothing like you, when in reality i am just like you. i don't know how i feel about virginia. i have loved her. i have despised her. i think her charms made her the most morally grey character I've ever met because i still cant fully blame her or think that she was wrong and yet she was and she was deeply disturbed but maybe she was a genius? i feel the same way about almost every single character. i truly cannot decide if i love or hate them or??????? i just cant. were they right? were they wrong? i need someone less gullible than me to read this just so i can see what they think about it. my second read will be for the philosophy.
also oh my god i finally thought there would've been lovers but No. just the most incredible homoerotic best friendism ever. how i GET YOU LAURA. ME TOO. I WATCH HER WITH HER STUPID GIRLFRIEND AND I WANNA CRY TOO. but in the end it was all for you. jesus i can't take this i seriously dont even know what to say but i loved this deeply

ghadersbookclubs's review against another edition

3.0

Um interesting ig ???

jbellomy's review against another edition

3.5

medium-paced

mythaster's review against another edition

3.0

Honestly surface-level and not quite as intelligent as it wants to be, I think, but there are a few passages that really got me, especially a long one near the end and the very opening section. Very good bread for a readable but not particularly artful sandwich filling.

quinn13's review against another edition

The plot and characterization were more or less fine (which is not to suggest that the characters were likeable; on the whole they weren't). The writing style, however, was not my thing. I don't usually like books written in third-person present tense, and the book didn't feel as grounded in place and time as it should have. References to Tinder, Uber, and Instagram abound, and students frequently refer to things as being "cringe", but otherwise the book had a very old-fashioned feel. It also felt more as though it were set in England than in Maine - maybe because the author attended Oxford? Ultimately I just found it hard to settle into the story and be carried away by the plot.