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adventurous relaxing medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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reflective relaxing slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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funny reflective slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

i cannot wait for the required reading for grade 12 english to include something written in the past 50 years

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dark reflective sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

i liked that this book was easy to follow as it just focuses on holdens thoughts and opinions. that being said, nothing really happens in this book. the parts of holdens life that slowly unravel and give you an idea of why he’s so depressed are interesting, but you can only listen to a privileged white man whine so much to be honest.

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dark emotional sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

In one word: overrated. 
I can admit that it wasn’t as terrible as I thought at the start, but it’s definitely not a masterpiece or one of the best books ever. Honestly I considered dnfing it but I wanted to finish it so I could a) say I’ve read it and b) properly trash it. 

If this was released today and critiqued as a piece of literature, I don’t think it would get good reviews. I will never understand how this is some people’s favorite book. 
The actual process of reading it was not fun and not worth what little I got out of it. Sure, there’s some interesting (although in my opinion pretty basic) reflections, and Holden is a somewhat interesting character, but beyond that, there wasn’t much substance.
I feel like if it was at least fun to read I would’ve given it a pass for not have any like “lesson” or “deep meaning”, although I would still not consider it one of the best books of all time. I probably just have very high standards for classics, I mean something had to make it so popular and everlasting. but this was not that good. Honestly I only actually liked the last part, but the rest of the book was quite a bore. I dunno, I kind of get the point of it, but it wasn’t for me. 

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book is one of the few books where I felt like mental illness was shown from the perspective of the person experiencing the mental illness in a very accurate way. Holden's superiority complex is precisely how it is to have one in real life, you feel justified to point out everything you find wrong in people while excusing your even worse faults. You act rashly because everything seems to lack value and time zooms by or stretches on forever in your mind. Unlike most books, there's not a final destination or moment in someone's life that completes the book. The book is a snippet of the plain but complex days in someone's life. There is no happy or sad ending just a pause and let's see what happens. It portrays how life isn't a story with a perfect beginning to end and how you never know what's next.

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