Reviews

Burntcoat by Sarah Hall

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mt_gilley's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I've just read this for the second time and it's really made clear for me just how exceptional a book it is - feverish, thrilling. It's full of poetic insight into love, art, death, illness, lust, but without ever seeming forced. The structure invites all these comparisons between the different relationships - first love, motherhood, serious illness - but then the book confounds them. There's something very natural and honest about that - while there's a burning passion and intensity and will to all the bits of the story, it's also keenly attuned to the specifities of individuals and circumstances, to different moments of existence.

imo_s's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.5

unfortunatecircus's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

oh this was so beautiful and so sad! I personally wish there was less sex in it (we get it, you fuck! ok!!) but it was a stunning little novel all around. lots of trigger warnings, but no rape or animal cruelty!

janinagnes's review against another edition

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emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

brisingr's review against another edition

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4.0

First proper pandemic book that I've read since the pandemic (hey, reading is escapism in most cases), but it fit through a personal narrative all the failures that we've seen happening: the governmental and social ones, and how much they can hurt and continuously damage. I maintain the novel's question: how do you go on after something like this? And how can you not?

aregnier10's review against another edition

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emotional sad

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

Not my typo style of book, not writing style I'm into, however I couldn't put it down! This book is so poetic, so beautifully written. It reads as a woman reliving her life from her death bed while also bringing us the reader to reexperience such an impactful event we all had to live through.