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daynaye's review against another edition
adventurous
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? Yes
right after finishing: this book was a very interesting read and i have a feeling that the more i sit and think about the book the more i’ll like it. the book follows richard as he makes friends with a group of 5 classics students. every single one of these characters are so deeply flawed which makes for some interesting situations. the leader of the group is henry who i also think is easily the most fascinating one out of the bunch. he is so incredibly intelligent that he is blindsided by it. because of his leadership of the group he becomes idolized by the rest of the group who almost follow him blindly into situations. camilla is another character that i don’t quite understand but i am also fascinated by. she is the only female of the group which puts her in an interesting position that she abuses time and time again. those are the two characters that fascinated me the most, but that is not to say that charles, bunny, francis, and richard are not interesting. these are all bad people. the start of the book was kind of hard to get through because there was a lot of exposition but once the story picked up, it was hard to put the book down. i understand why the book became so famous on tiktok, but i am unsure as of now if the amount of hype it got was justified. overall i did enjoy this book and there are a couple of people around me who are reading this book as well. i can’t wait to analyze and discuss this book with them. i also cannot wait to revisit this book as i feel that everytime i reread the book i will notice new things about the characters and the way they interact with each other (the relationship that julian has with his pupils and the way the students talk about him is incredibly interesting). i doubt that i’ll give it a star rating bc the feelings i have can’t be summarized into stars (that literally means that it’s a high rating). overall though, i think this is worth reading and i enjoyed my time with the book.
carefulfearanddeaddevotion's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
This book has been on my TBR for a decade, and sadly, it disappointed.
The only thing that saved this book from being a 1 star read is the writing. The scenes are well-paced, the conversations natural, the descriptions--both of location and feeling--are extremely vivid. Unlike The Goldfinch, I was able to finish this book. Like The Goldfinch, I found the characters bland and insufferable. I really just could not empathize or even sympathize with any of them. When Bunny was alive, he was bigoted and not very likeable. Once he died, I did feel bad for him, but only because I am not a psychopath and I think murdering a friend because they found out you murdered someone else is bad, actually.
I did find myself actively enjoying the book afterJulian finds out that Henry (and the whole friend group, really) killed Bunny . Richard is finally able to see how he built up Julian and the whole group to be these perfect, aspirational people, when really they're not perfect, not at all. I could feel his panic, and his disgust, and this is when he started to feel more real, and therefore more enjoyable.
Not really that important overall, but was I actually meant to believe that he's in love with Camilla?? I'd sooner believe that he's in love with Cloke. He definitely had much more believable chemistry with all the boys in the group (or even Judy) than he did with Camilla. Just like Meredith and Oliver(?) in If We Were Villains I don't buy it, I really don't. Stop with the forced heterosexuality, stop shoving that shit down my throat. /lh
ALSO we find out that, actually, Bunny was right and Camilla and Charles ARE fucking. ewewewewewewwwwww.
The only thing that saved this book from being a 1 star read is the writing. The scenes are well-paced, the conversations natural, the descriptions--both of location and feeling--are extremely vivid. Unlike The Goldfinch, I was able to finish this book. Like The Goldfinch, I found the characters bland and insufferable. I really just could not empathize or even sympathize with any of them. When Bunny was alive, he was bigoted and not very likeable. Once he died, I did feel bad for him, but only because I am not a psychopath and I think murdering a friend because they found out you murdered someone else is bad, actually.
I did find myself actively enjoying the book after
Not really that important overall, but was I actually meant to believe that he's in love with Camilla?? I'd sooner believe that he's in love with Cloke. He definitely had much more believable chemistry with all the boys in the group (or even Judy) than he did with Camilla. Just like Meredith and Oliver(?) in If We Were Villains I don't buy it, I really don't. Stop with the forced heterosexuality, stop shoving that shit down my throat. /lh
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, and Suicide
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Vomit, Incest, Blood, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Racism, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Mental illness, Islamophobia, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Drug use, Drug abuse, Classism, and Antisemitism
claytonj530's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
serinalovesreading's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Suicide
minjeongie101's review against another edition
4.5
Everyone in this book needs to go to a pysch ward
harding1sa's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
laufey99's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This book ruined me.
wetnoodle's review against another edition
4.0
this is the kind of book that some people would think makes them an 'intelligent' reader because of the pretentious sounding writing style. anywho, I really liked it.
cgcmolc's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
eden827's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0