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3.23 AVERAGE
3.23 AVERAGE
I've maybe read too many books about listless, drifting college kids, but I found this book mostly bad. The biggest problem with it, for me, is that I can see how it could have been great with maybe just a few different choices made.
As it is it's the story of an angry young born-again atheist who falls in love with a broken woman who didn't love him but gradually comes to while she's sinking deeper and deeper into a cult. The premise is half interesting and the follow through is pretty solid, but the novel focuses, I think, on the least interesting person in the novel and forces us to live inside his head.
The chapters with the cult leader, John Leal, are barely even there. Usually just a few sentences that don't really round him out much. Phoebe--the love interest--is also given little space on the page to come through. And I find her story fascinating, actually. Haunted by the death of her mother, followed around the globe by her deadbeat dad, flirting with status as cult member--there's a lot to work with here! Phoebe could and should be a fascinating character, but we're mostly given her through Will, the primary narrator.
The novel focusing so closely on Will keeps us from any of the really interesting bits, too. Like the inner workings of the cult, how it goes from strange little meeting group to terrorist organization. Instead we're stuck with Will who mopes around, drifts, whines about losing god, about displacement, and on and on. Will, see, is kind of an asshole, and his perspective isn't something I' particularly interested in, because I've met a thousand Wills, especially at college.
But, yeah, Kwon has a strong command of language but she wrote a book that has a fascinating story inside it and then chose to write none of that fascinating story, and instead focus on some random asshole.
I'm a bit surprised by how much love this novel has received, but I guess that's because this is the kind of book that appeals to English majors because, to an extent, it's kind of about them.
Maybe that last bit is me being harsh, but I'd rather read a book about a cult leader than a book about some asshole who once met a cult leader in between house parties, class, and work.
As it is it's the story of an angry young born-again atheist who falls in love with a broken woman who didn't love him but gradually comes to while she's sinking deeper and deeper into a cult. The premise is half interesting and the follow through is pretty solid, but the novel focuses, I think, on the least interesting person in the novel and forces us to live inside his head.
The chapters with the cult leader, John Leal, are barely even there. Usually just a few sentences that don't really round him out much. Phoebe--the love interest--is also given little space on the page to come through. And I find her story fascinating, actually. Haunted by the death of her mother, followed around the globe by her deadbeat dad, flirting with status as cult member--there's a lot to work with here! Phoebe could and should be a fascinating character, but we're mostly given her through Will, the primary narrator.
The novel focusing so closely on Will keeps us from any of the really interesting bits, too. Like the inner workings of the cult, how it goes from strange little meeting group to terrorist organization. Instead we're stuck with Will who mopes around, drifts, whines about losing god, about displacement, and on and on. Will, see, is kind of an asshole, and his perspective isn't something I' particularly interested in, because I've met a thousand Wills, especially at college.
But, yeah, Kwon has a strong command of language but she wrote a book that has a fascinating story inside it and then chose to write none of that fascinating story, and instead focus on some random asshole.
I'm a bit surprised by how much love this novel has received, but I guess that's because this is the kind of book that appeals to English majors because, to an extent, it's kind of about them.
Maybe that last bit is me being harsh, but I'd rather read a book about a cult leader than a book about some asshole who once met a cult leader in between house parties, class, and work.
Lived up to none of what I was expecting. The writing was pretty, but the story was cluttered and told from many perspectives so you don't get to know any of the characters well. Also, it takes 3/4 of the book for anything interesting to happen.
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Didn’t love this. I started it as a quick read after A Children’s Bible, hoping to have a total change of pace/plot but a similarly propulsive and absorbing read. While I read the first half of this book in a day, I found myself really struggling to come back to it after that. The characters are all pretty miserable — I TRULY don’t have an issue with flawed characters (…I love them), but the whole cast felt self-absorbed and cruel, devoid of desire or intention to grow, empty of purpose. I get the attempt, I think, to capture a sort of swirling and intense relationship to another person, to religion, to faith and devotion as they all devolve into obsession and cultishness. But I couldn’t grasp the point — again, as with flawed characters I often truly love a book that’s not clear, that has an ambivalent point (or even that doesn’t have one at all!) — but I didn’t get WHY, here, or, even more, what statement the author and the book were making about humanity and what we were supposed to feel from that. So much glib violence (a very detailed and graphic rape scene, arsons, car accidents, religious brutality, suicide), and with what in mind? I can tolerate a lot — I don’t love reading these things but when they mean something I don’t look away for a moment. But I didn’t see why, or what any of it meant. I found it casual (a thing I do not love) and cynical (another thing I do not love) and ultimately just disappointing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
dark
emotional
sad
I think RO Kwon should write a sequel primarily from Phoebe's perspective.
The ending left me wanting so much more but I love that it ended without closure.
The ending left me wanting so much more but I love that it ended without closure.
Thank you for the ARC. I could not get into this book. I found the writing to be positively torturous.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
ive landed on the fact that Kwon's writing style is just not my jam. it's choppy and sometimes feels pretentious, and while I enjoyed Incendiaries more than Exhibit, I don't think it's my stylistic vibe.
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
medium-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