Reviews tagging 'Death'

Trust Exercise by Susan Choi

5 reviews

erickaonpaper's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

you will be thinking. of this book, during this book, after this book. susan choi makes sure of that. i applaud all of the care, the thought, and the possibilities this book offers. i'm so excited to reread this!
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travisppe's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

The format of this book is going to stick with me for a long time. Very cool. 
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readbycarina's review

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challenging dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

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dylanlouise's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Unlike other readers, I LOVED the first section-thought it was such an honest, perfect portrayal of our teenage years and the theatre training experience. Was super into the creative writing choices and the narration changes but the second and third parts didn't hold my attention. Overall, it was hard to follow and there was just so much graphic sexual assault that I didn't want to keep going but it had some redeeming factors so..
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deusbexmachina's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Wow wow wow wow. I devoured this book and can't stop thinking about it. I won't spoil it (especially because doing so would require so much explanation and summary). But I do think the book is brilliantly constructed. The core themes are trust, believability, and accountability, particularly in regards to sexual assault. As a reader, you know that horrific things have happened to the main characters; they have been mistreated and taken advantage of. But the exact nature of what happened to them is up for debate, called into question again and again throughout the book, so you're forced to interrogate the survivors' accounts, rather than their abusers. It feels ugly, and I think that's Susan Choi's point. Okay, one spoiler:
I would say that Martin most definitely does not get off the hook for his actions, even though retribution comes late. But Mr. Kingsley/Mr. Lord? He dies without repercussion. However, their actions deeply impact Karen (who carries so much anger), Claire (who will never know her parents), and Sarah (who needs to distance herself through fiction), and their suffering is largely invisible.
I know why this book is polarizing, but I can't wait to talk about it with everyone.
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