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3.23 AVERAGE
3.23 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Not for me. I could hear the author "chewing the scenery" and I found it distracting. So many ponderous and NYTimes book-review worthy half-sentences, not enough character development. I'm sure it will win a reward.
challenging
dark
sad
slow-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 think this is probably what they call a dashing debut?
Deals with heavy topics although fundamentally in no more than cosmetic ways (that goes for the Korean and Chinese elements; same exotic, one-eye stereotype treatment American writers tend to give; very disappointing here). But these explorations I think deserves to be applauded, especially given it’s a debut. Not easy to manage fitting in so many in a short story.
On the note of “short:” this is going to diverge heavily depending on personal tastes, but I have found the purple prose worked against the storytelling’s favor overall. It’s good to catch attention but less than half way the rhythm got repetitive and tiring. I doubt I would’ve finished it had I not known the ending first; something dramatic to end the somewhat bland sense nothingness of the narrative. Note I say “sense,” bc while it’s slow paced there are very dramatic things all these characters experience… So it really should make me feel more perhaps. But it didn’t. Something of the delivery voice?
Mostly I read it bc I want to see how Kwon does the trick with perspectives and unreliable narrators here. Would recommend for a breezy read except the topics are really heavy. But it can be one for you if you are $&@@#% in the head like me 😂
Deals with heavy topics although fundamentally in no more than cosmetic ways (that goes for the Korean and Chinese elements; same exotic, one-eye stereotype treatment American writers tend to give; very disappointing here). But these explorations I think deserves to be applauded, especially given it’s a debut. Not easy to manage fitting in so many in a short story.
On the note of “short:” this is going to diverge heavily depending on personal tastes, but I have found the purple prose worked against the storytelling’s favor overall. It’s good to catch attention but less than half way the rhythm got repetitive and tiring. I doubt I would’ve finished it had I not known the ending first; something dramatic to end the somewhat bland sense nothingness of the narrative. Note I say “sense,” bc while it’s slow paced there are very dramatic things all these characters experience… So it really should make me feel more perhaps. But it didn’t. Something of the delivery voice?
Mostly I read it bc I want to see how Kwon does the trick with perspectives and unreliable narrators here. Would recommend for a breezy read except the topics are really heavy. But it can be one for you if you are $&@@#% in the head like me 😂
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Religious bigotry, Car accident
Moderate: Drug use, Rape, Vomit
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Incendiaries is about religion and a cult, and how a longing to belong can suck you in. It’s set on an American college campus at which the two main characters are students. I didn’t love it. The backdrop of quasi-religious fervour and fermenting violence played second fiddle to the theme of obsessive love, when I think it would have been more compelling had it been the other way round. I hoped that it would explore more deeply ideas about theology and psychology, but for me it was more a dark tale of a doomed teenage romance. Some of the prose is very beautiful, but at times it could feel a little laboured. It was worth a read, but I don’t think it is a book I will be thinking about in years to come.
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a tough read. It’s not often that literary fiction writers take up the subject of faith very seriously, so this was different. It’s one of those books where the male MC thinks he’s in love but he’s just obsessed with the girl. I thought at first this was going to critique that trope as part of the interrogation of having or losing faith, but I’m unconvinced that it does.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault
I liked the writing on this one, but the plot just didn’t grab me. Mildly stressful with unsympathetic characters... not as intriguing as I’d hoped.
The Secret History möter The Girls.
Jag ogillade den förstnämnda, älskade den sistnämnda - och Kwon placerar sig bekvämt i mitten. Egentligen blir jag aldrig kär i den här boken; varken språket eller karaktärerna griper tag tillräckligt. Greppet att dela in kapitel utifrån huvudpersonerna, men sedan ändå bara ha en berättare, är i och för sig originellt, och fungerar förvånansvärt bra. Texten och tonen - om än inte starka eller charmerande - känns hela tiden genomtänkta, kompetenta. Karaktärerna har djup och väcker både sympati och antipati. Story-arch:en är tillräckligt tight för att tilltala. o.s.v.
Det blir helt enkelt omöjligt att inte ge boken en fyra.
(Och så lite extra plus för att jag får ta del av - ännu en - immigrantgrupp i USA, i och med de koreanska ingångarna. Jag är dålig på att läsa "världslitteratur", men på senaste tiden har det verkligen inte varit något problem att läsa om andra folkgrupper i amerikanska eller brittiska romaner. Bra utveckling!)
Jag ogillade den förstnämnda, älskade den sistnämnda - och Kwon placerar sig bekvämt i mitten. Egentligen blir jag aldrig kär i den här boken; varken språket eller karaktärerna griper tag tillräckligt. Greppet att dela in kapitel utifrån huvudpersonerna, men sedan ändå bara ha en berättare, är i och för sig originellt, och fungerar förvånansvärt bra. Texten och tonen - om än inte starka eller charmerande - känns hela tiden genomtänkta, kompetenta. Karaktärerna har djup och väcker både sympati och antipati. Story-arch:en är tillräckligt tight för att tilltala. o.s.v.
Det blir helt enkelt omöjligt att inte ge boken en fyra.
(Och så lite extra plus för att jag får ta del av - ännu en - immigrantgrupp i USA, i och med de koreanska ingångarna. Jag är dålig på att läsa "världslitteratur", men på senaste tiden har det verkligen inte varit något problem att läsa om andra folkgrupper i amerikanska eller brittiska romaner. Bra utveckling!)