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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
Filling the New England-shaped hole in my heart by reading about it, somehow coping with the fact that I am spending my first summer entirely away from home in the city.
I stumbled upon Rebecca Makkai by complete chance (seeing her interview John Green for a ChiHumanities event) and I am so glad I kept her name in the back of my mind long enough to pick up this book, especially during an outing I had told myself I wouldn't spend any money on...
Makkai plays with form a lot in this book and honestly, none of her experiments missed the mark for me. The short chapters immersed me in Bodie's frazzled perspective, the "The one where" chapters were never too heavy-handed, and the second-person narration wasn't my favorite overall, but it got the job done. Frankly, I enjoyed Makkai's style of writing a lot more than I expected, which I had exactly zero expectations for because I essentially went in blind. I've seen other reviews complaining about the perspective somehow privilegingRobbie's violence against Thalia's above Bloch's , but in my opinion, Makkai did her due diligence in denouncing both. Bodie is clearly unreliable; she manipulates, lies, and omits to both the characters and her audience. It's pretty obvious we need to take her conspiracies about Bloch and Robbie with a grain of salt to understand the greater message of the book. Despite Makkai highlighting Bodie's flaws at every turn, she still crafts the narrative in a way that made me unconditionally root for her, even when she was navigating cancel culture clumsily and beginning an affair with a high school friend . Not that I supported these actions per se, but that I still wished to see Bodie's journey through to the end.
Speaking of endings, I foresaw that coming from a mile away. Everything was pointing to theunfortunate realities of our corrupt justice system, and I don't know if it was as obvious to everyone else or if I am just jaded by the ludicrous delays in a case involving someone I love dearly. The right to a speedy trial my ass, someone is dead and the killer has flounced around the streets of MA for 1167 days. I am righteously bitter and also in a position to offer Bodie a unique sympathy when it comes to sleepless nights and drunken rabbit holes, though in my case there are no conspiracies, only the truth.
I stumbled upon Rebecca Makkai by complete chance (seeing her interview John Green for a ChiHumanities event) and I am so glad I kept her name in the back of my mind long enough to pick up this book, especially during an outing I had told myself I wouldn't spend any money on...
Makkai plays with form a lot in this book and honestly, none of her experiments missed the mark for me. The short chapters immersed me in Bodie's frazzled perspective, the "The one where" chapters were never too heavy-handed, and the second-person narration wasn't my favorite overall, but it got the job done. Frankly, I enjoyed Makkai's style of writing a lot more than I expected, which I had exactly zero expectations for because I essentially went in blind. I've seen other reviews complaining about the perspective somehow privileging
Speaking of endings, I foresaw that coming from a mile away. Everything was pointing to the
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
some cringe for sure and some things i think are jumps are dumb with the central mystery but overall the writing feels alive and keeps you reading. not high literature but very good true crime exploration
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
sad
tense
medium-paced
mysterious
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
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
mysterious
fast-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:
No
Książka byłaby o niebo lepsza, gdyby skupiła się na głównym wątku. Autorka chciała za dużo zmieścić na raz i niestety, treść na tym traci. Wielowątkowość sprawia również, że żadnej z tych postaci nie poznajemy na tyle, żeby nam na nich zależało. Albo żeby chociaż zrozumieć ich motywację. Wszystko bardzo po łebkach, takie ślizganie się po powierzchni. Szkoda, po był potencjał na fantastyczną historię.
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes