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rivareads's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I always thought this book would be a pretentious, trying to hard to be deep coming of age story, but now I know for sure it's a pretentious, trying to hard to be deep coming of age story.
I honestly just finished because it has the right amount of literary quality under all the pretentiousness and the perfect pacing to be read in waiting rooms.
The characters are deep down flawed in a way that makes them truly unlikable, shallow and tonal. The character driven conflict is completely circular, which destroys any chance of character development. The inner conflict goes in circles and it's kind of hard to believe a 50 year old who was a therapist would still react the same way has she would when she was a teen. The characters are very black and white up until the point they are made to be morally grey, which fails and makes them dull. These people never actually develop anything, they a re always recycling the same things they felt when they were teens.
The truly remarkable thing about this book is how shallowly it addresses controversial and heavy topics such as sexual assault and AIDS. These are treated like things to add to the plot and create a dramatic moment. there's no deep conversation about the consequences of sexual assault and how it affected a young girl. Instead all is presented in a careless and even tacky way. "so this happened because it's a good plot point and made this guy, who is very cute by the way, did we mention that?, only 200 times , run away to Iceland and fullfil his tragic descent into a degenerate "
It runs in circles to nowhere and it is as pretentious as you'd think about a group of people who titled themselves the interestings.
I honestly just finished because it has the right amount of literary quality under all the pretentiousness and the perfect pacing to be read in waiting rooms.
The characters are deep down flawed in a way that makes them truly unlikable, shallow and tonal. The character driven conflict is completely circular, which destroys any chance of character development. The inner conflict goes in circles and it's kind of hard to believe a 50 year old who was a therapist would still react the same way has she would when she was a teen. The characters are very black and white up until the point they are made to be morally grey, which fails and makes them dull. These people never actually develop anything, they a re always recycling the same things they felt when they were teens.
The truly remarkable thing about this book is how shallowly it addresses controversial and heavy topics such as sexual assault and AIDS. These are treated like things to add to the plot and create a dramatic moment. there's no deep conversation about the consequences of sexual assault and how it affected a young girl. Instead all is presented in a careless and even tacky way. "so this happened because it's a good plot point and made this guy, who is very cute by the way, did we mention that?, only 200 times , run away to Iceland and fullfil his tragic descent into a degenerate "
It runs in circles to nowhere and it is as pretentious as you'd think about a group of people who titled themselves the interestings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Terminal illness, and Sexual assault
katiebhastings's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
mmajer's review against another edition
3.0
Unfortunately, the cover was the most interesting thing about The Interestings. Just kidding, it wasn't that bad. I did find it however to be rather dull in places. I really liked it in the beginning. I found it to be witty and charming, and I could envision being at the camp with these 6 characters. But then it got to be pretty boring with a few more interesting moments sprinkled sporadically thoughout. I didn't really find myself liking any of the characters except for Jonah, and he was hardly in it. So this one was just ok for me, with only parts of it being really enjoyable.
salgalruns's review against another edition
3.0
I was expecting to like this book much more than I did. Even though the entire book was all about the characters, I felt it still lacked depth in so many ways and felt really kind of unfulfilled at the end.
It wasn't that it was horrible - I read the book in 2 days time, and it did engage me, but it just didn't grab me. The story itself has to do with friendship and jealousy (to a certain degree). It all starts at summer camp when the friends all meet in their teens, and continues through the trials and tribulations of life. Some of the friends get closer and fall in love, some fall away from the group entirely. For Jules and Ash, their friendship is a strong one that does withstand the challenges of time and socio-economic status.
There is an element of jealousy that winds its way through the story and becomes a pivotal theme. Jealousy with who is in love with who is one particular element as Ethan still loves Jules ever since they were 15 (although from afar), and also of Jules' obsession about how Ethan and Ash are so financially successful. MUCH of the storyline has to do with living the life of the rich and famous vs. the 'typical' family.
Bummer one for me, but I know others loved it. Perhaps just not my thing...
It wasn't that it was horrible - I read the book in 2 days time, and it did engage me, but it just didn't grab me. The story itself has to do with friendship and jealousy (to a certain degree). It all starts at summer camp when the friends all meet in their teens, and continues through the trials and tribulations of life. Some of the friends get closer and fall in love, some fall away from the group entirely. For Jules and Ash, their friendship is a strong one that does withstand the challenges of time and socio-economic status.
There is an element of jealousy that winds its way through the story and becomes a pivotal theme. Jealousy with who is in love with who is one particular element as Ethan still loves Jules ever since they were 15 (although from afar), and also of Jules' obsession about how Ethan and Ash are so financially successful. MUCH of the storyline has to do with living the life of the rich and famous vs. the 'typical' family.
Bummer one for me, but I know others loved it. Perhaps just not my thing...
stephaniesteen73's review against another edition
5.0
This story begins with 6 teens who meet at summer camp in the 1970s and form fast friendships. It then tracks their stories over the next 40 years as they move through life separately and together. I really liked this book - the writing was excellent and the characters were memorable. This book was hard to put down and I found myself thinking about the characters even after the novel was finished.
abe389's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
2.25
curiouslyjade's review against another edition
3.0
It is interesting, but while I was captivated in the beginning, by the time I got to the end, I was disappointed.
elliewhitereads's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
sara_mackey's review against another edition
5.0
I read the book very slowly because I knew at the end I wouldn't want to let the characters go. It is fantastic - loved it.