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3.23 AVERAGE
3.23 AVERAGE
Please don't read the book flap! It gives away something that happens toward the end of the book. Thankfully, I didn't read the book flap for some reason and was able to experience the slow, eerie burn of this book, told from the perspective of Will, about his girlfriend's sadness and how she gradually gets sucked into a cult-like group. The book has a lot to say about the fervor of Christianity, losing it, finding it. It's told in a flashback style by Will so that you know something is building to a horrible climax. It's an ambitious style of writing. I admire it and it was a fast read, but I can't say that I LOVED it.
Will has fallen out of faith. When his girlfriend Phoebe falls into faith in a Christian cult with a charismatic young leader, Will fights to bring her back before it's too late.
I was absolutely blown away by the storytelling tactics used her. The use of voice and perspective is incredible, and the building tension was so effective that I felt physically engaged in this book. Everyone will approach this book in a different way based on their personal experience with religion. For me, R.O. Kwon hit it out of the ballpark.
I was absolutely blown away by the storytelling tactics used her. The use of voice and perspective is incredible, and the building tension was so effective that I felt physically engaged in this book. Everyone will approach this book in a different way based on their personal experience with religion. For me, R.O. Kwon hit it out of the ballpark.
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Reading cult books for a week vlog: https://youtu.be/CmAWnEeto_k
2.5 rounded up to 3 - not really for me. I felt very detached from the characters and was longing to get closer to them. Very lyrically written and less focused on plot.
2.5 rounded up to 3 - not really for me. I felt very detached from the characters and was longing to get closer to them. Very lyrically written and less focused on plot.
My main takeaway is that I'm going to be reading more of this author. The writing is beautiful and inventive, sometimes almost too much for me (the description of "spit-polished" lips made me do a double read!). I found the plot and characters elusive, which was tantalizing and maybe for the best, but at the same time a little unsatisfying. I was also intrigued by the North Korean angle, and I see how it ties into Phoebe's background, but I didn't find it integral to the story.
Somebody please explain to me how a book about a man’s girlfriend joining an actual cult with ties to North Korea and full on becoming a terrorist by bombing a building as an act of protest managed to be one of THE MOST BORING things I have ever read?! Come on… I’m so disappointed.
The premise of The Incendiaries sounded AMAZING. I couldn’t wait to dive into this hectic insanity. However, as soon as I got through the first few pages I knew that I was absolutely not a fan. The writing style was sporadic and disjointed, making it difficult for readers to connect or know what the heck was going on. The characters lacked any emotion or personality- more than anything they felt so clinical and robotic in their storytelling. The only reason I pushed through this one was because it was so short…
It had so much potential but I just did not mesh with the style and layout at all.
The premise of The Incendiaries sounded AMAZING. I couldn’t wait to dive into this hectic insanity. However, as soon as I got through the first few pages I knew that I was absolutely not a fan. The writing style was sporadic and disjointed, making it difficult for readers to connect or know what the heck was going on. The characters lacked any emotion or personality- more than anything they felt so clinical and robotic in their storytelling. The only reason I pushed through this one was because it was so short…
It had so much potential but I just did not mesh with the style and layout at all.
It's possible I just Don't Get It.
In fact, since the average rating of this is 3.24, maybe it's possible that we at large here on Goodreads just Don't Get It, and this book is doing something incredible that is just flying straight over our heads.
Regardless, whether that something is there or not, it is not present for me and I did not like this book.
I do not like the treatment of sexual assault. I do not like being trapped in the gross pick-me-boy head of our narrator. I do not care for any other characters or feel like I saw them enough to even dislike them. I do not like the plotlessness of this or the upsetting-ness of it.
And again. Maybe I'm not supposed to. Maybe there's a whole thing going on with all of that that I am simply too thick to even imagine.
But I do not care.
Bottom line: No thanks!
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pre-review
i felt a lot while reading this book, but i don't have any feelings about it.
does that make sense?
review & rating to come
-----------------------
currently-reading updates
it's Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month, lily is reading all books by asian authors, and i will be joining in for as many buddy reads as humanly possible!
In fact, since the average rating of this is 3.24, maybe it's possible that we at large here on Goodreads just Don't Get It, and this book is doing something incredible that is just flying straight over our heads.
Regardless, whether that something is there or not, it is not present for me and I did not like this book.
I do not like the treatment of sexual assault. I do not like being trapped in the gross pick-me-boy head of our narrator. I do not care for any other characters or feel like I saw them enough to even dislike them. I do not like the plotlessness of this or the upsetting-ness of it.
And again. Maybe I'm not supposed to. Maybe there's a whole thing going on with all of that that I am simply too thick to even imagine.
But I do not care.
Bottom line: No thanks!
-----------------------
pre-review
i felt a lot while reading this book, but i don't have any feelings about it.
does that make sense?
review & rating to come
-----------------------
currently-reading updates
it's Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month, lily is reading all books by asian authors, and i will be joining in for as many buddy reads as humanly possible!
so so ready for everyone to abandon this writing style. also the north korea angle is insane obviously
This book was haunting, exhilarating, and intriguing.