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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
Moderate: Alcoholism
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Endlessly putting a character through suffering for ostensible reason does not make for a great reading experience (had the same trouble with A Little Life). Here, abuse is heaped on a child and it just seems never ending and yet, we are asked to sympathize with the two adults in the novel who seem to think physical abuse is some twisted outgrowth of love. Sure, there is a lot of style in the novel-the sentences, the dialogue, the setting they all do things, but this one aspect made reading this book so very difficult.
This is not for the story, its for the narrator. I loved exploring maori culture, the different questions about family and abuse as well as disability and how society fails to protect disabled children.
But my god the narrator explains everything extremly monotonous and in a book that had very little story itself - this does not help at all
But my god the narrator explains everything extremly monotonous and in a book that had very little story itself - this does not help at all
I really struggled while reading this book. I would give it 2 stars, except our book group had a pretty fruitful discussion about it, particularly in regard to the post-colonial structure of the narrative. So not really all that enjoyable, but I can’t write it off out of hand. Love my book group!
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I wanted to like this book more, and indeed I did like it more all the way until the scene where Joe literally punches Simon to the brink of death . The last like 150 pages or so after that are a slog.
The best part of the book is Kerewin's character. I actually only read this book after reading an essay specifically about Kerewin as an asexual character, and, yeah, it's spelled out pretty explicitly, especially for a book from 1983. But that ends up not really being that central to the book, even though it's brought up on several occasions. The child abuse angle is the much bigger one, and, as other reviewers have pointed out, it's not really handled in an appropriate way, unfortunately. The author really seems to imply that you can abuse someone out of a sense of loving them too much, and it really starts to border on this misguided and disconcerting attempt to engender sympathy for Joe.
It's unfortunate that Kerewin, as such a great character, got stuck in this weird, meandering novel. A lot of squandered potential here, though the first 2/3rds-ish is still enjoyable and well worth reading.
The best part of the book is Kerewin's character. I actually only read this book after reading an essay specifically about Kerewin as an asexual character, and, yeah, it's spelled out pretty explicitly, especially for a book from 1983. But that ends up not really being that central to the book, even though it's brought up on several occasions. The child abuse angle is the much bigger one, and, as other reviewers have pointed out, it's not really handled in an appropriate way, unfortunately. The author really seems to imply that you can abuse someone out of a sense of loving them too much, and it really starts to border on this misguided and disconcerting attempt to engender sympathy for Joe.
It's unfortunate that Kerewin, as such a great character, got stuck in this weird, meandering novel. A lot of squandered potential here, though the first 2/3rds-ish is still enjoyable and well worth reading.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
The story was great and it was well written, but I found the dialects made it difficult for me to read. (If it wasn't for that I would have given it 4 stars).