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emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Another audiobook listen through, and I’m not sure I could have read it in twice the time. The themes are heavy and the pace teeters on slow, but the content is absolutely arresting.
Themes of guilt and whether we can ever truly atone for the worst of our actions, and whether simply telling the story is enough of an avenue to do so if the storyteller is forever unreliable provide incredibly provocative questions. And to set this deeply individual story against a vivid backdrop of the Dunkirk evacuation and the surrounding war is a moving juxtaposition.
Most of the way through the first part of this book, I wasn’t sure it was for me, but now it’s among the most wholly moving stories I have “read.”
Now to watch the 2007 adaptation for the first time.
Themes of guilt and whether we can ever truly atone for the worst of our actions, and whether simply telling the story is enough of an avenue to do so if the storyteller is forever unreliable provide incredibly provocative questions. And to set this deeply individual story against a vivid backdrop of the Dunkirk evacuation and the surrounding war is a moving juxtaposition.
Most of the way through the first part of this book, I wasn’t sure it was for me, but now it’s among the most wholly moving stories I have “read.”
Now to watch the 2007 adaptation for the first time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, War
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Classism
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Book was VERY slow at first than randomly picked up pace. But main character and her parents just needed someone to fight them
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, War
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I realized about 25% into this book that I should’ve busted out a highlighter and pen to annotate so this will be earmarked for a reread eventually.
This story is so rich with character dimensionality, plot intricacies, detail, and emotion. The essence of being thirteen, an aspiring writer, and type-A-moralistic/virtuous and annoying af to so many around you is captured so artistically and accurately, as is being 23, stuck at home, and having no discernible direction in life, though my one gripe of this book is that despite the POV switching in Part 1, we don’t get to hear Cecilia’s narrative when she’s older, only Robbie and Briony’s.
Briony is such a fascinating character all the way through from her time at home to her time as a nurse. You want to scream and shake her at 13 for being so self-righteous and nosy for the sake of having something “mature” to write about. But then you feel her guilt and see her feeble attempt at righting her wrong (or at least making herself feel better about it) by becoming a nurse and later visiting Cecilia. I was almost shocked to be reminded in the time jump that she’s only 18 as a nurse and somehow thinks she’s “grown.”
TLDR, I could write an essay analyzing her character and this book is heartbreaking but so beautifully written.
This story is so rich with character dimensionality, plot intricacies, detail, and emotion. The essence of being thirteen, an aspiring writer, and type-A-moralistic/virtuous and annoying af to so many around you is captured so artistically and accurately, as is being 23, stuck at home, and having no discernible direction in life, though my one gripe of this book is that despite the POV switching in Part 1, we don’t get to hear Cecilia’s narrative when she’s older, only Robbie and Briony’s.
Briony is such a fascinating character all the way through from her time at home to her time as a nurse. You want to scream and shake her at 13 for being so self-righteous and nosy for the sake of having something “mature” to write about. But then you feel her guilt and see her feeble attempt at righting her wrong (or at least making herself feel better about it) by becoming a nurse and later visiting Cecilia. I was almost shocked to be reminded in the time jump that she’s only 18 as a nurse and somehow thinks she’s “grown.”
TLDR, I could write an essay analyzing her character and this book is heartbreaking but so beautifully written.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, War
Minor: Rape
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical content, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Alcohol
Minor: Animal death, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Vomit, Dementia, Fire/Fire injury
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I wasn't sure how much I would enjoy this - I remember enjoying parts of the movie but mostly just being really depressed at the end. But given I'm making a very concentrated effort to read books I've been toting around from place to place for like a decade, I figured it was time to give it a try.
Generally, more literary books like this are not my jam. And a lot of Part 1 of this book is why. 😅 It is sooo flowery, so much fancy description, and it feels like extremely little happens. I was only reading it in tiny amounts because it was the type of writing I felt like I needed to carefully concentrate on reading it (which is extra hard when I'm just trying to enjoy a few pages before bed at the end of a long day).
That being said, there was something also really pretty and intriguing about it, so I kept reading. I was very surprised by how much the style changed in Part Two, though I've we got Briony's side of things in Part 3, it slowly came together why there was SUCH a shift, and I found myself actually really appreciating the whole structure of the story by that point.
I honestly thought in that first section I would end up likely slogging through the whole book but I was curious enough (just barely) to keep going, and I'm glad I did because I ended up quite enjoying it. Just about everything with Robbie (and B as a nurse) with the war was SO heartbreaking - so well done and so real. Just unimaginable that so much of that was reality in our history.
A book like this still isn't really my usual cup of tea - I'm not eager to read more like this - but I found the thing as a whole actually lovely in the end. Still rather depressing, but somehow less so than I remember feeling with the movie (and now I kinda want to rewatch the movie while the book is fresh in my mind!), and aside from the excess flowery-ness in the early chapters, I found it beautifully well written.
Generally, more literary books like this are not my jam. And a lot of Part 1 of this book is why. 😅 It is sooo flowery, so much fancy description, and it feels like extremely little happens. I was only reading it in tiny amounts because it was the type of writing I felt like I needed to carefully concentrate on reading it (which is extra hard when I'm just trying to enjoy a few pages before bed at the end of a long day).
That being said, there was something also really pretty and intriguing about it, so I kept reading. I was very surprised by how much the style changed in Part Two, though I've we got Briony's side of things in Part 3, it slowly came together why there was SUCH a shift, and I found myself actually really appreciating the whole structure of the story by that point.
I honestly thought in that first section I would end up likely slogging through the whole book but I was curious enough (just barely) to keep going, and I'm glad I did because I ended up quite enjoying it. Just about everything with Robbie (and B as a nurse) with the war was SO heartbreaking - so well done and so real. Just unimaginable that so much of that was reality in our history.
A book like this still isn't really my usual cup of tea - I'm not eager to read more like this - but I found the thing as a whole actually lovely in the end. Still rather depressing, but somehow less so than I remember feeling with the movie (and now I kinda want to rewatch the movie while the book is fresh in my mind!), and aside from the excess flowery-ness in the early chapters, I found it beautifully well written.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Chronic illness, Rape, Sexual assault
Minor: Body horror
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War
Moderate: Rape
This was giving men's right activism and I simply couldn't finish it. I had an idea where the plot was going and I looked to see if I was correct. Yes, a man is falsely accused of sexual assault by a thirteen year old girl who mistakenly reads his love letter to her older sister so just decides for some reason he is a maniac? But the actual rapist receives no consequences and even marries his victim. No.
As my good friend Beth put it when I sent her a voice note ranting about this: the author was clearly on drugs?
As my good friend Beth put it when I sent her a voice note ranting about this: the author was clearly on drugs?
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault