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3.23 AVERAGE
3.23 AVERAGE
It was definitely different, kept me interested, but I am not sure how much I liked it in the end. The main character, Will, was not the most sympathetic or reliable narrator. I definitely enjoyed the theme of religion or faith, loss of faith, and extremism.
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-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
dark
sad
tense
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
It’s giving the cult at Sarah Lawrence, but make it from the perspective of a (rightfully) jilted lover of one of the acolytes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Grief, Religious bigotry
Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Miscarriage, Suicide, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent
Minor: Emotional abuse, Abortion, Gaslighting, Classism
I am torn by this book. On one hand, I can see all the reviews that said the prose is dramatic, meaningless, trying too hard, etc. On the other, this was my "reading in the pool" book and I kept wanting to go back to the pool to read it. On a completely other hand, after I finished I found myself both satisfied and dissatisfied. So it's not a 3 star because it's "meh", it's a 3 star because there is both 5 star and 1 star elements of this book. It is definitely polarizing, and can be so even just to one person. There are some disturbing elements (one scene in particular near the end that could be really activating to some people) and is definitely not a "happy" ending. It will leave you thinking for sure.
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On a note that does not matter to ANYONE but me, but it was the only part that made me laugh out loud - and I don't mean this to be disrespectful to the author or her previous faith, because I do see how genuine her faith was and how grieved she was by losing it - was a moment when Will is describing the "echoes" of his faith still in his life. He says something like "...I still hear Leviticus like a song to beat out the rhythm of each stride." I think perhaps she chose Leviticus because it's obscure and she's trying to show that Will knows the Bible inside and out and it still lives in his bones, but it actually felt like the opposite because Leviticus is not much like a song - and I'm saying that as someone who day in and day out has snippets from all sorts of Bible books float into my consciousness, who hears the Bible as I go on my daily walks. I resonate with the concept - the choice of Leviticus was just funny to me.
--
On a note that does not matter to ANYONE but me, but it was the only part that made me laugh out loud - and I don't mean this to be disrespectful to the author or her previous faith, because I do see how genuine her faith was and how grieved she was by losing it - was a moment when Will is describing the "echoes" of his faith still in his life. He says something like "...I still hear Leviticus like a song to beat out the rhythm of each stride." I think perhaps she chose Leviticus because it's obscure and she's trying to show that Will knows the Bible inside and out and it still lives in his bones, but it actually felt like the opposite because Leviticus is not much like a song - and I'm saying that as someone who day in and day out has snippets from all sorts of Bible books float into my consciousness, who hears the Bible as I go on my daily walks. I resonate with the concept - the choice of Leviticus was just funny to me.
Sharp but dizzying. This one will stick with me for days, thinking back on certain parts as meaning and gravity steep and deepen.
I wanted to like this book more than I did. Gorgeous prose but I felt removed from most of the action and most of the emotion in the story.
3.5
This was really interesting but in the moments when I thought the tension would culminate into something a little more, I was left with paragraph chapters from John Leal and really a lot of questions left unanswered but that’s also okay! The end felt a little rushed to me, and wanted more of Phoebe’s perspective! Still liked it quite a bit and will probably be thinking about it a lot.
This was really interesting but in the moments when I thought the tension would culminate into something a little more, I was left with paragraph chapters from John Leal and really a lot of questions left unanswered but that’s also okay! The end felt a little rushed to me, and wanted more of Phoebe’s perspective! Still liked it quite a bit and will probably be thinking about it a lot.
Fast read. Enjoyed, but would have enjoyed more... anything (plot, character development, anything).
What did I just read? It wasn’t the book the summary led me to believe it would be. I wish the summary book was written. Whatever this was was awful. Didn’t like the characters, I felt some of the actions were so out of character, there are quotation marks for a reason USE THEM! I don’t get the hype