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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I adored this book so much I can't think about where to begin in describing how much I love it!! So beautifully written, the author's prose is gorgeous and how she works with form and genre is really interesting, I haven't read a historical novel like this in a while!! Overall so haunting, romantic and tragic in a sad and beautiful way. I'm really glad I read the author's note on her construction of Salome and the golden age of Hollywood, the social and historical context added a lot of depth to the characters and the plot. Definitely recommend!! :)
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Just didn’t work for me. Vera doesn’t come off as powerfully as she needs to here. A little too much ingenue and not enough to fully convince us of her backbone. Works decently well as insider Hollywood scandal story, but wraps up rather fast after coming to a fairly obvious end point. Something felt a little too slight in the characterization maybe. Something really missing here, but I’m not exactly sure what.
This was good, interesting, and worth reading. It just didn't blow me away as much as I hoped.
We follow three main POVs in this story. At times I loved how they contrasted, but at times they didn't work for me. I mostly loved Vera and Salome! Their lives connected over time and space and... mythological narrative framings. As Vera portrayed Salome in her 50s Hollywood film, you could feel her grapple with her own identity, with what it meant to be confident, with what it meant to choose love.
Poignant things were said about women and their perceived "sexual power" and how painfully it can be weaponised against them by society. The Hollywood setting and Salome's noble court were fascinating when intertwined. The pressure of trying to conform to expectations (family, public, personal, etc) was explored really well in both eras.
I would have loved to dive deeper into the intersectionality between racism and sexism, but unfortunately I felt we didn't quite get there. Of course, there were a few moments were I really connected with Vera as a woman of colour. But the same cat-calling men were brought up multiple times, when I expected she had experiences above and beyond them!
But this brings me to why Nancy's POV worked less for me. I felt the author was trying to tell two different stories. Nancy's hatred of Vera, her perceived rivalry, her desperation to punish this Mexican actress for stealing "her" role as a pretty white American... it was all written well. It was exhausting to be inside her head, but that was the point! Unfortunately, though, it didn't feel necessary to follow Nancy's POV when we were also following Salome and Vera's connection. Her chapters disconnected me from the heart of the story.
Another small personal taste thing: the romances were painfully insta-lovey, which is just not my vibe. At least Vera and her love interest later connected on a genuine, moving level and understood each other. I liked them a lot by the end.
We follow three main POVs in this story. At times I loved how they contrasted, but at times they didn't work for me. I mostly loved Vera and Salome! Their lives connected over time and space and... mythological narrative framings. As Vera portrayed Salome in her 50s Hollywood film, you could feel her grapple with her own identity, with what it meant to be confident, with what it meant to choose love.
Poignant things were said about women and their perceived "sexual power" and how painfully it can be weaponised against them by society. The Hollywood setting and Salome's noble court were fascinating when intertwined. The pressure of trying to conform to expectations (family, public, personal, etc) was explored really well in both eras.
I would have loved to dive deeper into the intersectionality between racism and sexism, but unfortunately I felt we didn't quite get there. Of course, there were a few moments were I really connected with Vera as a woman of colour. But the same cat-calling men were brought up multiple times, when I expected she had experiences above and beyond them!
But this brings me to why Nancy's POV worked less for me. I felt the author was trying to tell two different stories. Nancy's hatred of Vera, her perceived rivalry, her desperation to punish this Mexican actress for stealing "her" role as a pretty white American... it was all written well. It was exhausting to be inside her head, but that was the point! Unfortunately, though, it didn't feel necessary to follow Nancy's POV when we were also following Salome and Vera's connection. Her chapters disconnected me from the heart of the story.
Another small personal taste thing: the romances were painfully insta-lovey, which is just not my vibe. At least Vera and her love interest later connected on a genuine, moving level and understood each other. I liked them a lot by the end.
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes