You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.24 AVERAGE
4.24 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
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
Stara miłość nie rdzewieje i każdy kij ma dwa końce: raz na wozie, raz pod wozem.
feeling really conflicted about this one because in theory it was made for me and when i started the book i loved it so much i barely picked it up because i wanted it to last longer. i adored the beginning, the atmosphere, the longing, the tenderness, the feeling of space, of heat and want, the setting. and then somewhere around the middle it started to fall flat and become very cold ?? i just couldn’t see the love between the two characters anymore. they differed in massive ways in their political views, which seemed to be at the core of who they were, and yet it seemed not to matter. ofc it was their downfall, amongst other things, and you could tell it was progressively driving them apart, but i just couldn’t understand why they held on. also it felt silly to me that america’s capitalism was portrayed as the saving grace (which maybe could be attributed to the american dream’s pervasiveness ??? but i think i’m interpreting generously) when problems come in abundance in america as well. the western world isn’t kinder on queerness, it just hides it well. freedom (in the liberal negative rights sense) isn’t the end all be all it seems to be when queer people in america are suffering from the government abandoning and defunding services which are needed for their survival. not to say communists regimes can’t be critiqued OBVIOUSLY, but it just is so easy to claim capitalism = freedom = good and to leave it at that. also, i felt so happy to see giovanni’s room have such an important place in the book, but it felt disingenuous knowing how james baldwin was adamant in his fight against capitalism and imperialism. and so to just reduce him to someone who cared for freedom (again, in the liberal sense) for queer people was reductive and lacked nuance bc he was HIGHLY critical of the system. and tbh its just like… why are you as a queer author licking capitalism’s boots… its weird
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
3 or 3.5
Decent. Some really beautiful little snippets of prose from time to time. Slow. It took me almost three weeks to finish because I wasn't hooked until the end, which for me was the part that made the book worth it.
Also a little too reliant on certain literary tropes and clichés (although I acknowledge that sometimes, these things become tropes because they are lived realities)
Decent. Some really beautiful little snippets of prose from time to time. Slow. It took me almost three weeks to finish because I wasn't hooked until the end, which for me was the part that made the book worth it.
Also a little too reliant on certain literary tropes and clichés (although I acknowledge that sometimes, these things become tropes because they are lived realities)
Wow, van dit boek heb ik enorm genoten. Ik wou dat ook ik eens kon gaan zwemmen in het donker
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Kaunis tarina mahdottomasta rakkaudesta ja vähemmistöjen sorrosta. Sai minut myös ajattelemaan omia isovanhempiani.
The prose in this book was so beautiful that no plot could ever hold up to it.
I've saved many quotes from this book, took pictures of pages and reread lines over and over. The writing was simply immaculate. The characters held up too, they felt real and imperfect. The only thing lacking for me was the plot. At times it moved too slowly for my taste, or there wasn't much going on. This book was very character-based. The plot picked up here and there, and I adored the last chapters, but it did lose my attention at certain points. I also found the brief flashes of the future unnecessary.
4/5, because this book set an example for how prose should be.
I've saved many quotes from this book, took pictures of pages and reread lines over and over. The writing was simply immaculate. The characters held up too, they felt real and imperfect. The only thing lacking for me was the plot. At times it moved too slowly for my taste, or there wasn't much going on. This book was very character-based. The plot picked up here and there, and I adored the last chapters, but it did lose my attention at certain points. I also found the brief flashes of the future unnecessary.
4/5, because this book set an example for how prose should be.
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Honestly just bored. I have no investment in the characters