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stephanie_matthews's review against another edition
1.0
I could not get into this book, it was so slow and I felt bored. I read the first 35 chapters then the last 5 chapters and called it a day. I probably won't pick it back up and I am okay with that.
juanitad15's review against another edition
A beautiful mix of historical fiction, romance, and fantasy. It is definitely a good read.
miori's review against another edition
4.0
Легкость смерти, тяжесть любви
Если бы мне нужно было описать "Игру в любовь и смерть" в трех словах, это были бы: прекрасно, тяжело, холодно. Это потрясающе написанная, многогранная, эмоциональная и драматичная история, без всяких скидок на жанр. И все же что-то не позволило мне восторгаться и обожать ее в полной мере. Может, дело в языке, который показался мне (только не смейтесь) недостаточно ванильным для истории, которая почти полностью фокусируется на любовной линии. Скорее всего это тот случай, когда мы немного не сошлись характерами с автором, потому что качество текста я могу только хвалить, но вот его настрой и способ автора описывать чувства и переживания показался мне сухим.
Задумка — высший балл. Любовь и Смерть у Марты Брокенброу — реальные личности, а отношения между ними оказались самой интересной частью книги. Вечные, уставшие, но постоянно что-то ищущие. Честно, читать о них хотелось намного больше, чем о главных героях, субъектах игры этих то ли сущностей, то ли полубожеств.
Возможно, роману не хватило объема. Все-таки в нем столько всего: две пары главных героев и, соответственно, две линии взаимоотношений; расовая проблема; борьба за принятие себя на втором плане; полеты и даже музыка. Все это очень интересно, но меня не покидало ощущение, что между кусочками не хватает какого-то волшебного клея и общая картина вот-вот распадется на фрагменты. Я хотела бы почитать намного больше о мотивации Любви и Смерти, об их взаимоотношениях, о истории предыдущих игр. Только эта часть может разрастись на отдельную книгу. Да и характеры Генри и Флоры хоть вроде бы и раскрыты, но они не смогли влюбить в себя, не смогли въесться в меня и вызвать глубокую привязанность.
Впрочем, ответ может быть только во мне: история почему-то оказалась очень тяжелой и мрачной, и опустить щиты, проникнуться ей в полной мере было бы очень больно. Впустить в себя судьбу Итана, который пытается поверить в любовь и принять себя, осознавая, что это обреченная любовь к существу иного рода, подстроенная попытка, что это Любовь, но не любовь — больно. Видеть Смерть в личине кузины Хелен и вспоминать, как легко эта игра перечеркнула судьбу самой Хелены — больно. Наблюдать, как "устраняются" люди, один за одним, ради игры — больно. А примерять на себя судьбы Генри и Флоры, пешек в игре высших существ — вообще невыносимо.
Как итог: очень самобытная и интересная история, но, увы, немного не моя. К прочтению однозначно рекомендую.
Если бы мне нужно было описать "Игру в любовь и смерть" в трех словах, это были бы: прекрасно, тяжело, холодно. Это потрясающе написанная, многогранная, эмоциональная и драматичная история, без всяких скидок на жанр. И все же что-то не позволило мне восторгаться и обожать ее в полной мере. Может, дело в языке, который показался мне (только не смейтесь) недостаточно ванильным для истории, которая почти полностью фокусируется на любовной линии. Скорее всего это тот случай, когда мы немного не сошлись характерами с автором, потому что качество текста я могу только хвалить, но вот его настрой и способ автора описывать чувства и переживания показался мне сухим.
Задумка — высший балл. Любовь и Смерть у Марты Брокенброу — реальные личности, а отношения между ними оказались самой интересной частью книги. Вечные, уставшие, но постоянно что-то ищущие. Честно, читать о них хотелось намного больше, чем о главных героях, субъектах игры этих то ли сущностей, то ли полубожеств.
Возможно, роману не хватило объема. Все-таки в нем столько всего: две пары главных героев и, соответственно, две линии взаимоотношений; расовая проблема; борьба за принятие себя на втором плане; полеты и даже музыка. Все это очень интересно, но меня не покидало ощущение, что между кусочками не хватает какого-то волшебного клея и общая картина вот-вот распадется на фрагменты. Я хотела бы почитать намного больше о мотивации Любви и Смерти, об их взаимоотношениях, о истории предыдущих игр. Только эта часть может разрастись на отдельную книгу. Да и характеры Генри и Флоры хоть вроде бы и раскрыты, но они не смогли влюбить в себя, не смогли въесться в меня и вызвать глубокую привязанность.
Впрочем, ответ может быть только во мне: история почему-то оказалась очень тяжелой и мрачной, и опустить щиты, проникнуться ей в полной мере было бы очень больно. Впустить в себя судьбу Итана, который пытается поверить в любовь и принять себя, осознавая, что это обреченная любовь к существу иного рода, подстроенная попытка, что это Любовь, но не любовь — больно. Видеть Смерть в личине кузины Хелен и вспоминать, как легко эта игра перечеркнула судьбу самой Хелены — больно. Наблюдать, как "устраняются" люди, один за одним, ради игры — больно. А примерять на себя судьбы Генри и Флоры, пешек в игре высших существ — вообще невыносимо.
Как итог: очень самобытная и интересная история, но, увы, немного не моя. К прочтению однозначно рекомендую.
bobinsbooknook's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
“A life with all of its business finished is a life too cautiously lived.”
A beautifully written historic romance which honestly left me feeling a bit emotional in the end!
I adored the way Martha has created complex characters - particularly the characters of Death and Love. Having ditched the lazy stereotypes you may expect - she has built complex personalities, showing both part kind and cruel as well as the way they interact with one another and the other characters throughout.
The various romances and conflicts within this book touching on themes of race and sexuality during 1970’s made it feel very well rounded rather than a one note romance as well as the sprinkle of humour just made it a great overall read.
shimauchiha's review against another edition
3.0
I'm expecting a rather sad valentine this year, though not in the traditional "God, I'm not getting a gift and no one loves me" way.
But rather in the way of knowing soon I'll be living thousands and thousands of kilometers away from everyone I love. It really changes the way you look at a day celebrating love.
So to say I wasn't exactly feeling up for a traditional romance filled with eternal love and kisses and rainbows would be somewhat of an understatement.
The Game of Love and Death seemed like the perfect fit for the situation.
As is the case for most books there were things to love and things to hate here, since it is romance week and all, let's start with absolute love:
-Flora : There was just something so real about her, so touchable. Right from the very start I had a very clear picture of her in my mind. Both her characters and her looks. I could just see her in a flight suit, I could see her singing with a sultry voice in a backless dress. Every little element of her characters just fit together. There was so much to admire about her and so much to relate to. I always have a soft spot for characters who have seemingly impossible dreams and yet still don't give up on them. Flora's case was one of the most beautiful ones I had ever come across.
Unfortunately that was the one element I just loved, now let's get to the love/hate parts.
-Love and Death: I absolutely loved the characterization of love and death. I specially liked the fact that Love was actually kind of dark and selfish. In fact it seemed to me as if he was the one who put less value on humans. I just loved that. His characterization had a lot of originality.
However what I didn't like was Death's end, I didn't like the awkward bit of Death just "wanted to be loved" part at the end. It wasn't a bad idea if not exactly original, but its execution needed to be a bit more subtle and not so in your face.
-Ethan and homosexuality: Ethan's character while not as strong as Flora still had a certain allure to him. His journey too was very relatable, coming to term with who he was in a society where he wouldn't be accepted. The problem with this however was the fact that he never really did come to term with it. His journey was great but then there wasn't much of an end to it. It felt too swift and sudden of an end, with not enough conclusion.
-The writing : The writing was always playing with the line between being beautiful and being cheesy. Sometimes it leaned this way and sometimes that way, and a few times it just crashed on chessy's side hard.
-The ending : I'm not sure how I felt about the ending exactly, I didn't feel all gooey or actually emotional at all, but it had its moments and it was exiting at times.
Now comes the hate:
- THE ROMANCE : The biggest worst flaw of the book. The romance sucked. It really really sucked.
I didn't care if Henry and Flora got together at all. Their love was not sweet or interesting, honestly I wasn't even convinced they were in love and I certainly saw no reason why they should be.
With a plot like this, it's sort of really really important for you to care about the relationship. Instead I just cared about Flora. I actually wanted her to be independent and happy, going off to follow her dreams and no matter what I could not believe Henry to be that dream.
The biggest problem with the romance other than the lack of chemistry was that in the end I was completely convinced that these two were only in love because of the game and if it didn't exist they wouldn't even like each other much.
That didn't exactly made me want to root for them.
This pretty much ruined the whole book, I still enjoyed parts of it, but any time there was any mention of "the love" between them I was just bored and rolling my eyes, the problem is that this was the majority of the book.
Anything not mentioned falls into the I-really-didn't-care-about category, Including Henry.
Overall:
I can't say how I felt about this book altogether. I don't regret reading it but there is also no chance I'll ever be even slightly tempted to read it again. Still it was still a lot better than just some simple romance so a good read for my romance week. Read it or not read it, it's up to you, I can't offer any help in the matter.
P.s : It was also very hard to look at this objectively because the premiere reminded me of [b:The Night Circus|9361589|The Night Circus|Erin Morgenstern|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1387124618s/9361589.jpg|14245059] which is one of my favorite books of all time, and in comparison this book had nothing to offer, I think overall I did well though. Also if you haven't already, seriously read The Night Circus, it's the absolute best.
But rather in the way of knowing soon I'll be living thousands and thousands of kilometers away from everyone I love. It really changes the way you look at a day celebrating love.
So to say I wasn't exactly feeling up for a traditional romance filled with eternal love and kisses and rainbows would be somewhat of an understatement.
The Game of Love and Death seemed like the perfect fit for the situation.
As is the case for most books there were things to love and things to hate here, since it is romance week and all, let's start with absolute love:
-Flora : There was just something so real about her, so touchable. Right from the very start I had a very clear picture of her in my mind. Both her characters and her looks. I could just see her in a flight suit, I could see her singing with a sultry voice in a backless dress. Every little element of her characters just fit together. There was so much to admire about her and so much to relate to. I always have a soft spot for characters who have seemingly impossible dreams and yet still don't give up on them. Flora's case was one of the most beautiful ones I had ever come across.
Unfortunately that was the one element I just loved, now let's get to the love/hate parts.
-Love and Death: I absolutely loved the characterization of love and death. I specially liked the fact that Love was actually kind of dark and selfish. In fact it seemed to me as if he was the one who put less value on humans. I just loved that. His characterization had a lot of originality.
However what I didn't like was Death's end, I didn't like the awkward bit of Death just "wanted to be loved" part at the end. It wasn't a bad idea if not exactly original, but its execution needed to be a bit more subtle and not so in your face.
-Ethan and homosexuality: Ethan's character while not as strong as Flora still had a certain allure to him. His journey too was very relatable, coming to term with who he was in a society where he wouldn't be accepted. The problem with this however was the fact that he never really did come to term with it. His journey was great but then there wasn't much of an end to it. It felt too swift and sudden of an end, with not enough conclusion.
-The writing : The writing was always playing with the line between being beautiful and being cheesy. Sometimes it leaned this way and sometimes that way, and a few times it just crashed on chessy's side hard.
-The ending : I'm not sure how I felt about the ending exactly, I didn't feel all gooey or actually emotional at all, but it had its moments and it was exiting at times.
Now comes the hate:
- THE ROMANCE : The biggest worst flaw of the book. The romance sucked. It really really sucked.
I didn't care if Henry and Flora got together at all. Their love was not sweet or interesting, honestly I wasn't even convinced they were in love and I certainly saw no reason why they should be.
With a plot like this, it's sort of really really important for you to care about the relationship. Instead I just cared about Flora. I actually wanted her to be independent and happy, going off to follow her dreams and no matter what I could not believe Henry to be that dream.
The biggest problem with the romance other than the lack of chemistry was that in the end I was completely convinced that these two were only in love because of the game and if it didn't exist they wouldn't even like each other much.
That didn't exactly made me want to root for them.
This pretty much ruined the whole book, I still enjoyed parts of it, but any time there was any mention of "the love" between them I was just bored and rolling my eyes, the problem is that this was the majority of the book.
Anything not mentioned falls into the I-really-didn't-care-about category, Including Henry.
Overall:
I can't say how I felt about this book altogether. I don't regret reading it but there is also no chance I'll ever be even slightly tempted to read it again. Still it was still a lot better than just some simple romance so a good read for my romance week. Read it or not read it, it's up to you, I can't offer any help in the matter.
P.s : It was also very hard to look at this objectively because the premiere reminded me of [b:The Night Circus|9361589|The Night Circus|Erin Morgenstern|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1387124618s/9361589.jpg|14245059] which is one of my favorite books of all time, and in comparison this book had nothing to offer, I think overall I did well though. Also if you haven't already, seriously read The Night Circus, it's the absolute best.
missbookiverse's review against another edition
3.0
Kennt ihr den Animationsfilm The Book of Life? Wenn ja, könnte euch dieses Buch ziemlich bekannt vorkommen, denn es hat genau die gleiche Rahmenhandlung: die Personifikationen von Liebe und Tod ziehen im Hintergrund die Fäden und lassen zwei echte Menschen tanzen wie Marionetten, um ihr Spiel für sich zu gewinnen. Während es im Film darum geht, welcher Spieler die holde Dame erobert, dreht sich im Buch alles ums Leben (und Lieben) oder Sterben.
Henry und Flora finden 1937 in den USA zueinander und bekommen vor allem den Stein Rassenkonflikt in den Weg gelegt. Abwechselnd erfährt man sowohl von ihren einzelnen als auch von ihren gemeinsamen Problemen. Dazwischen tauchen immer wieder Liebe und Tod auf, um die Karten neu zu mischen. Ihre Auftritte habe ich am meisten genossen, denn sie haben einfach die Klasse und Schwere, die ich mir von so zeitlosen Gestalten erwarte. Schön ist auch wie subtil sie manchmal als Tiere die Protagonisten begleiten. Dazu kommen nicht ganz so subtile, aber Schmunzeln-erregende Formulierungen à la “this cat is gonna be the death of me one day”. Überhaupt ist der Schreibstil der größte Vorzug des Romans. Auf elegante und doch kraftvolle Art werden rauchige Jazzclubs und zerbombte Städte zum Leben erweckt. Was dabei auf der Strecke bleibt, ist die Geschichte. Das Grundgerüst ist da, aber die Wände sind dünn und die Zimmer nicht eingerichtet. Es plätschert halt so vor sich hin, aber es ging mir nie an die Nieren. Henry und Flora, pff, von den epischen Liebenden, mit denen der Klappentext sie vergleicht (und als die am Ende auch Liebe und Tod sie sehen), sind sie meilenweit entfernt.
Das Buch ist wirklich überhaupt nicht schlecht, aber wenn euch das Thema interessiert, schaut euch doch lieber The Book of Life an (da gibt es wenigstens ein Schwein ;).
Henry und Flora finden 1937 in den USA zueinander und bekommen vor allem den Stein Rassenkonflikt in den Weg gelegt. Abwechselnd erfährt man sowohl von ihren einzelnen als auch von ihren gemeinsamen Problemen. Dazwischen tauchen immer wieder Liebe und Tod auf, um die Karten neu zu mischen. Ihre Auftritte habe ich am meisten genossen, denn sie haben einfach die Klasse und Schwere, die ich mir von so zeitlosen Gestalten erwarte. Schön ist auch wie subtil sie manchmal als Tiere die Protagonisten begleiten. Dazu kommen nicht ganz so subtile, aber Schmunzeln-erregende Formulierungen à la “this cat is gonna be the death of me one day”. Überhaupt ist der Schreibstil der größte Vorzug des Romans. Auf elegante und doch kraftvolle Art werden rauchige Jazzclubs und zerbombte Städte zum Leben erweckt. Was dabei auf der Strecke bleibt, ist die Geschichte. Das Grundgerüst ist da, aber die Wände sind dünn und die Zimmer nicht eingerichtet. Es plätschert halt so vor sich hin, aber es ging mir nie an die Nieren. Henry und Flora, pff, von den epischen Liebenden, mit denen der Klappentext sie vergleicht (und als die am Ende auch Liebe und Tod sie sehen), sind sie meilenweit entfernt.
Das Buch ist wirklich überhaupt nicht schlecht, aber wenn euch das Thema interessiert, schaut euch doch lieber The Book of Life an (da gibt es wenigstens ein Schwein ;).
lattelibrarian's review against another edition
5.0
SOBS. Historical fiction isn't normally my go-to, but it has love, it has death, and it absolutely decimated my heart. So, it's a pretty good book in my opinion. This book flickers between various perspectives--from Henry to Flora to Death to Love. Each are trying to win and survive and stay strong in a society that is complicated and nuanced.
Also, the PAGES, the design work of this novel is absolutely incredible. Each chapter begins with a black page and white text, then reverts back to a white page with black text. Which is phenomenal, lovely, and probably really costly. But honestly? It's how you know this book is the real deal.
What I also really loved about this book is that it takes place in Seattle, my good ol' almost home. It's so rare that I read books about the west coast that isn't LA or San Francisco! So this reminded me a little bit of home, and a little not, too, considering how much I learned about Hoovervilles and how overlooked they were on the westcoast.
Also. Okay. Can we talk about how like, a) there's an interracial main character couple, and b) there's a gay character who c) falls in love with Love?? UGH. My heart. I want to shove this book at every person who says they like historical fiction and yell at them to read it. It's fun, lively, intricate, intriguing, and overall, heartwrenching. We're constantly pulled back and forth over deciding who's going to win in the end all the while we learn about Death and Love's own relationship, the ethics of their job, and what it means to be the embodiment of two of the major components of human existence.
The Game of Love and Death is ultimately beautiful, meaningful, and all around fantastic.
Review cross-listed here!
Also, the PAGES, the design work of this novel is absolutely incredible. Each chapter begins with a black page and white text, then reverts back to a white page with black text. Which is phenomenal, lovely, and probably really costly. But honestly? It's how you know this book is the real deal.
What I also really loved about this book is that it takes place in Seattle, my good ol' almost home. It's so rare that I read books about the west coast that isn't LA or San Francisco! So this reminded me a little bit of home, and a little not, too, considering how much I learned about Hoovervilles and how overlooked they were on the westcoast.
Also. Okay. Can we talk about how like, a) there's an interracial main character couple, and b) there's a gay character who c) falls in love with Love?? UGH. My heart. I want to shove this book at every person who says they like historical fiction and yell at them to read it. It's fun, lively, intricate, intriguing, and overall, heartwrenching. We're constantly pulled back and forth over deciding who's going to win in the end all the while we learn about Death and Love's own relationship, the ethics of their job, and what it means to be the embodiment of two of the major components of human existence.
The Game of Love and Death is ultimately beautiful, meaningful, and all around fantastic.
Review cross-listed here!
makaylareads's review against another edition
I'm DNFing this book for right now. I just can't get into it. I'm not sure if I will pick this book up again or not. I guess we'll just wait and see.