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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
Ultimately because it was due back at the library. I definitely could have finished it with more time, but I wasn’t particularly engaged.
emotional
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:
Yes
I feel like I have so many thoughts I don't quite know how to make coherent. It's about being a girl and not conforming being a crime. About being a girl and being the shining example of what a girl "should be" and still turning out wrong. It's about girls going through something and all the other troubles of the world being the fault of the girls and how could they do this at a time like this, even though it wasn't their fault and they didn't ask for any of it. It's about girls having a choice, demanding to have a choice and a say in what happens to them and the time to decide it. It about standing up for other girls even though that means going up against everyone else around you.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Dementia, Pregnancy, Alcohol
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Nothing ever really grabbed my attention. I found myself restarting chapters to be sure I didnt miss something. But the plot kept me interested. Why is this happening? Why does her aunt despise her so? The ending was uneventful. You never actually find out why this was happening to the girls.
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3,5
I like it enough, it was not bad (I read a bad crime novel, the comparison is staggering). So, not bad. But a lot lot of things not working. I loved the atmosphere, I'm a sucker for adolescent girls stories, coming of age, conflicts, everything, and that one was not that bad, except the author makes her adolescents 18 years old when they are all obviously 14-15. And that's how it works : with them teenagers, not young adults.
The book has a pacing problem, but retrospectively, it is its more minor problem. What really bothered me first is the number of unbelievable things. Tourists coming to gawk following a sensationalist article in a local newspaper. Na-ha. It 1980, there is no internet. You might, at best, have a handful of local curious weird onlookers, UFO chasers would have been cool, because it is so 1980s. But not tourists coming from far and renting in the neighborhood for... nothing to see, but dying girls. Worse, the federal agents presence is utterly ridiculous. It's an unknown disease. The CDC is called, and the girls removed immediately and the street quarantined. Those two elements are bad imagination. But the fact that the parents turn completely against the dying daughters in less than a month, this is just bad writing.
Which led to the other problem, and I would say the major one : every character is unidimensionnal. When they have a dimension AT ALL. The main story is about Phoebe whose adored cousin (pathologically adored sometimes), Jacqueline, turns into a dust maiden. You would expect Jacqueline to have a personality. And the best I can tell you about her is that she has a sad look...
I liked it, but like a lot of genre books (crime, SF, fantasy, horror, etc) I would say editors set the bar too low. Like genre readers have a lower expectation to quality, so you don't have to ask the author to rewrite their damn first draft. That's obviously not true. Goodreads reviews are a good indicator : genre readers want and deserve quality too. Rewrite your damn first draft.
I like it enough, it was not bad (I read a bad crime novel, the comparison is staggering). So, not bad. But a lot lot of things not working. I loved the atmosphere, I'm a sucker for adolescent girls stories, coming of age, conflicts, everything, and that one was not that bad, except the author makes her adolescents 18 years old when they are all obviously 14-15. And that's how it works : with them teenagers, not young adults.
The book has a pacing problem, but retrospectively, it is its more minor problem. What really bothered me first is the number of unbelievable things. Tourists coming to gawk following a sensationalist article in a local newspaper. Na-ha. It 1980, there is no internet. You might, at best, have a handful of local curious weird onlookers, UFO chasers would have been cool, because it is so 1980s. But not tourists coming from far and renting in the neighborhood for... nothing to see, but dying girls. Worse, the federal agents presence is utterly ridiculous. It's an unknown disease. The CDC is called, and the girls removed immediately and the street quarantined. Those two elements are bad imagination. But the fact that the parents turn completely against the dying daughters in less than a month, this is just bad writing.
Which led to the other problem, and I would say the major one : every character is unidimensionnal. When they have a dimension AT ALL. The main story is about Phoebe whose adored cousin (pathologically adored sometimes), Jacqueline, turns into a dust maiden. You would expect Jacqueline to have a personality. And the best I can tell you about her is that she has a sad look...
I liked it, but like a lot of genre books (crime, SF, fantasy, horror, etc) I would say editors set the bar too low. Like genre readers have a lower expectation to quality, so you don't have to ask the author to rewrite their damn first draft. That's obviously not true. Goodreads reviews are a good indicator : genre readers want and deserve quality too. Rewrite your damn first draft.
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Bleakly stunning elegy to the rust belt, and very effective in that aspect. It's not perfect, and in particular I found the use of the main character/narrator as both a foil to the Town and a plural voice for the Town frustrating. She's representing too much to ring true, and it gives her a self-indulgent wishy-washy childishness that's a little annoying. Still, overall I'm very taken by the idea and imagery.
Teenage coming of age story no hook to keep you engaged.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Finished this tonight and boy did I have to silently cry at work. It hit me hard. There is a lot of points that can be taken from this book but one of the biggest one was choice for me. The right to have choice. Maybe it's a choice that you wouldn't have chosen technically but having that right and what happens when you don't. I felt a lot for Phoebe, she and me were quite similar back during being 18. Disliking change and trying so hard to fix everything around them. I as well always tried to be miss fix it or make it better. I also felt a lot for the other 5 girls. The struggles of being sick/having medical problems but no answer can be found as you change and get worse. I felt my heart break for them.
I recommend this one, it gets 5 ⭐ from me.
I recommend this one, it gets 5 ⭐ from me.
4/5
Ce livre était d'une étrangeté ! Et malgré ça j'ai vraiment bien aimé.
Je partais sur l'idée que ce livre me ferait flipper, donc forcément, je ne partais pas trop enjouée. Et puis au final je n'ai pas du tout eu peur, et j'ai totalement accroché avec cette ambiance macabre, glauque et totalement bizarre. J'ai trouvé cette histoire très poétique, avec un très beau message derrière.
Ce n'est absolument pas un livre avec de l'action, il se passe très peu de chose. Toute l'histoire se fait sur cette ambiance, cette histoire mystérieuse des Filles de Rouille.
Ce livre était d'une étrangeté ! Et malgré ça j'ai vraiment bien aimé.
Je partais sur l'idée que ce livre me ferait flipper, donc forcément, je ne partais pas trop enjouée. Et puis au final je n'ai pas du tout eu peur, et j'ai totalement accroché avec cette ambiance macabre, glauque et totalement bizarre. J'ai trouvé cette histoire très poétique, avec un très beau message derrière.
Ce n'est absolument pas un livre avec de l'action, il se passe très peu de chose. Toute l'histoire se fait sur cette ambiance, cette histoire mystérieuse des Filles de Rouille.