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sianski's review
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
alisarae's review
I was so excited for this book when I started it. The beginning is so full of potential with beautiful character setup, but then it peeters out to a fizzle (in terms of creativity with the plot).
Grady is a rich rebel in jazz era New York. When her parents leave for the summer, she is left alone to finally get away with all of her wild teenage plans. It’s a literal car wreck.
While Grady’s character motivations are explained in the beginning as being the opposite of her mother and perfect-daughter older sister, it seems that she has something else going on that is never fully explained. Why is she so fixated on sexually manipulating men? The book says that she had the popularity and opportunity to sexually manipulate women, but neither her own popularity nor female relationships interested her. Why is she so reckless? It seems that every safety lock along the way serves to only make her choose even worse decisions. There are multiple points that I wish the internal dialogue of the character had been developed or at least that more time would have been spared to dwell on the implications for the characters, but this is only a novella. If I had been the editor, I would have pushed it to be a full length novel.
Edit: just read some other reviews that said this was never meant to be published. So there’s that.
Grady is a rich rebel in jazz era New York. When her parents leave for the summer, she is left alone to finally get away with all of her wild teenage plans. It’s a literal car wreck.
While Grady’s character motivations are explained in the beginning as being the opposite of her mother and perfect-daughter older sister, it seems that she has something else going on that is never fully explained. Why is she so fixated on sexually manipulating men? The book says that she had the popularity and opportunity to sexually manipulate women, but neither her own popularity nor female relationships interested her. Why is she so reckless? It seems that every safety lock along the way serves to only make her choose even worse decisions. There are multiple points that I wish the internal dialogue of the character had been developed or at least that more time would have been spared to dwell on the implications for the characters, but this is only a novella. If I had been the editor, I would have pushed it to be a full length novel.
Edit: just read some other reviews that said this was never meant to be published. So there’s that.
robyn1998's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Wow, I didn't expect to be so impressed by this! I don't know why but I found it much easier to understand than the other Truman Capote books (apart from In Cold Blood). It seemed like the slang was easier to understand. I want to know more about Truman Capote's life because it's all in snapshots right now so I put his biography on my TBR
ruyanda's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
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
2.0
ava96's review against another edition
4.0
I liked it. It's the first book I've read of Capote's but I like his style. The end was very surprising and scared me a bit (:
ezzab126's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was a very interesting read. The story ranged from sweet and lighthearted but also tapped into darker themes such as anti-semitism, class relations etc. Even more interesting was the fact that it was published after Capote passed away at the discretion of his friend and lawyer.
Though it wasn’t groundbreaking in anyway and did certainly read like a slightly unfinished, unrefined work it was still certainly worth it. I think Capote had an interesting and flowing writing style which is easily accessible and satisfying.
Though it wasn’t groundbreaking in anyway and did certainly read like a slightly unfinished, unrefined work it was still certainly worth it. I think Capote had an interesting and flowing writing style which is easily accessible and satisfying.
mulders's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
fast-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? Yes
4.25
Most of life is so dull it is not worth discussing, and it is dull at all ages. When we change our brand of cigarette, move to a new neighborhood, subscribe to a different newspaper, fall in and out of love, we are protesting in ways both frivolous and deep against the not to be diluted dullness of day-to-day living.
It is incredibly hard to find just one quote to use in this review. I swear I highlighted every other page of the book, Capote is such an emoting, vivid, madman of a writer that the simplest moments of humanity in his work feel like a gut punch. Grady is a lovely protagonist fitting of the story; a timeless picture of a teenage girl wise beyond her years who is ultimately just as naive as she thinks she isn't. Clyde makes for an extraordinary love interest— a man who first seems cold and disinterested and slowly reveals himself to be a beautiful, bleeding heart— but an even better deuteragonist: the shift in point of view from Grady's to Clyde's comes halfway through the book and knocked the wind right out of me, breaking my heart in hindsight.
A short novel of a whirlwind summer romance that starts off sunny and languid and hurtles towards a shining, dizzying, abrupt end. Truman Capote was and remains the greatest.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Pregnancy, and Racial slurs
millerrc's review
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.75