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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved this. It’s quite depressing but also hopeful. I rally love Coco Mellor’s writing and how she creates characters that I love but get so frustrated with.
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
slow-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
dark
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
rewriting this review because it didn't stand the test of time. albeit, the journey of reading this book was a rollercoaster.
this book read like a tv show where every chapter was an episode that allowed readers to glimpse into the lives of these characters. i felt this distinctively when i first began reading this book and as i finished this book. i feel compelled to point this out due to its main backlash for how shallow, cliche, and overdone it felt. it feels like mellors intended the book to read that way as every character (aside from eleanor) was written in the third perspective. the focus of the book is cleo and frank's marriage; how it impacts those around them and themselves. while mellors introduced nuanced topics, it feels like it was never intended for the book to dive deeper on these issues and explore them in a profound or insightful manner. especially when each chapter only allows you to glimpse briefly into the inner workings of these characters, while its main focus is how the marriage is impacting them.
i do understand the message of the book and what mellors is conveying to her readers. however, i feel like i've read works that have done a better/more beautiful job in conveying the same message—it resonated more personally with me than mellor's cleo & frank.
additionally, i stand by the fact that it is no easy feat for a debut novel to be ruthlessly compared to an established author. i haven't read salley rooney, so this won't be a topic i interject myself into. i think there's plenty of reviews that discusses and dissects this matter. however, it doesn't detract from the fact that coco mellors *can* write. if she couldn't, i think i wouldn't have resumed it after dnf'ing this book. i personally believe that she writes well and definitely better when comparing earlier works of some established/popular authors. truthfully, i wouldn't be surprised if mellors produces a beautifully written book down the line, i think she has that potential.
ultimately, i think this book will remain at a 3-star for me. it didn't stand out; i wouldn't necessarily remember it as it didn't leave a profounding impression on me. i don't necessarily dislike it, i feel relatively neutral towards it.
this book read like a tv show where every chapter was an episode that allowed readers to glimpse into the lives of these characters. i felt this distinctively when i first began reading this book and as i finished this book. i feel compelled to point this out due to its main backlash for how shallow, cliche, and overdone it felt. it feels like mellors intended the book to read that way as every character (aside from eleanor) was written in the third perspective. the focus of the book is cleo and frank's marriage; how it impacts those around them and themselves. while mellors introduced nuanced topics, it feels like it was never intended for the book to dive deeper on these issues and explore them in a profound or insightful manner. especially when each chapter only allows you to glimpse briefly into the inner workings of these characters, while its main focus is how the marriage is impacting them.
i do understand the message of the book and what mellors is conveying to her readers. however, i feel like i've read works that have done a better/more beautiful job in conveying the same message—it resonated more personally with me than mellor's cleo & frank.
additionally, i stand by the fact that it is no easy feat for a debut novel to be ruthlessly compared to an established author. i haven't read salley rooney, so this won't be a topic i interject myself into. i think there's plenty of reviews that discusses and dissects this matter. however, it doesn't detract from the fact that coco mellors *can* write. if she couldn't, i think i wouldn't have resumed it after dnf'ing this book. i personally believe that she writes well and definitely better when comparing earlier works of some established/popular authors. truthfully, i wouldn't be surprised if mellors produces a beautifully written book down the line, i think she has that potential.
ultimately, i think this book will remain at a 3-star for me. it didn't stand out; i wouldn't necessarily remember it as it didn't leave a profounding impression on me. i don't necessarily dislike it, i feel relatively neutral towards it.
I picked up this book because of the promises of it being ‘Sally-Rooneylike’ (my queen <3). While I get the idea (troubled people with troubled relationships navigating the 21st century), it just did not do it for me.
Maybe it is the US setting, maybe it is the drug consumption, but, as heard in other reviews of this book, I simply did not care as much or related as much with these characters. They were just really annoying sometimes in their behaviour, and instead of that being a mirror (as in SR books), it simply provoked irritation.
However, I do have to say that I did enjoy reading the book, and especially the chapters from the perspective of Eleanor (I marked multiple sentences there, because they captured that exact essence of giving words to feelings and occurences and therefore give them meaning, hitting the nail on the head). So, it was entertaining, made me think a few times, and therefore gets a 3/5.
Maybe it is the US setting, maybe it is the drug consumption, but, as heard in other reviews of this book, I simply did not care as much or related as much with these characters. They were just really annoying sometimes in their behaviour, and instead of that being a mirror (as in SR books), it simply provoked irritation.
However, I do have to say that I did enjoy reading the book, and especially the chapters from the perspective of Eleanor (I marked multiple sentences there, because they captured that exact essence of giving words to feelings and occurences and therefore give them meaning, hitting the nail on the head). So, it was entertaining, made me think a few times, and therefore gets a 3/5.
TW: SI
I keep going back and forth between 3 and 4 stars. I liked the writing a lot and the characters were easy for me to care about. I guess I just felt like there was a lot of potential with such tortured characters for more interesting things to happen. I just like will never think a suicide attempt as the main shifting plot point is interesting or particularly good writing. If you are pushing your characters to their breaking points, it becomes almost predictable in a way that softens the blow, but like somehow in a bad way? I just think that there are so many ways to write tragedy that aren’t suicide. I don’t know. Also, Eleanor. I think her plot is unnecessary but it is also the only part of the book that made me laugh. I think I would have wanted other story lines to be further explored in her place. For example, Quentin + Alex and Zoe + Jiro.
Anyway, I read in in 5 days so I guess I did like it. I just felt like it had SO much potential and only lived up to like 75% of it.
I keep going back and forth between 3 and 4 stars. I liked the writing a lot and the characters were easy for me to care about. I guess I just felt like there was a lot of potential with such tortured characters for more interesting things to happen. I just like will never think a suicide attempt as the main shifting plot point is interesting or particularly good writing. If you are pushing your characters to their breaking points, it becomes almost predictable in a way that softens the blow, but like somehow in a bad way? I just think that there are so many ways to write tragedy that aren’t suicide. I don’t know. Also, Eleanor. I think her plot is unnecessary but it is also the only part of the book that made me laugh. I think I would have wanted other story lines to be further explored in her place. For example, Quentin + Alex and Zoe + Jiro.
Anyway, I read in in 5 days so I guess I did like it. I just felt like it had SO much potential and only lived up to like 75% of it.