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3.36 AVERAGE
3.36 AVERAGE
I couldn't put this book down. I hated to return it to the library. It's so beautifully written with a protagonist you're right beside for the entire story, and a heartbreaking ending I must have read a dozen times. I can't recommend it enough. It's one of those books that leave you hoping for a certain fate of the two main characters if there was a sequel, and glad there isn't one because it would take away the beauty of what was already written. And for a love story, there was quite a lot of tension and thriller aspects; the protagonist is on the lam, after all. If I didn't have so many other books out I'd read it over again.
The letters seemed to go on an extraordinarily long time, but at this point that's a minor quibble.
The letters seemed to go on an extraordinarily long time, but at this point that's a minor quibble.
Sort of like if Wuthering Heights met Catcher in the Rye, which is to say it’s the sort of book you’ll either love or hate. Personally, I loved it. It sucked me in, to the emotion, the plot, the characters. The writing was beautiful. The people were terrible. And it all felt so achingly real.
It blurs the line between love and obsession, passion and insanity. It’s a book packed with emotion, unbridled, dangerous emotion. There are scenes and lines that will sit with me for a long time
And yes, the sex scenes are *insanely* and somewhat disturbingly detailed.
It blurs the line between love and obsession, passion and insanity. It’s a book packed with emotion, unbridled, dangerous emotion. There are scenes and lines that will sit with me for a long time
And yes, the sex scenes are *insanely* and somewhat disturbingly detailed.
(From www.pingwings.ca)
Cover image and summary from Goodreads:
I read this for The Sisterhood of the Traveling Book Club’s February pick, and wow…I had no idea what to expect with this one.
The characters were all so unlikeable and so strange. A family that does drugs together and not only permits their teenage daughter’s boyfriend to practically move in but buys them a huge bed to share? Strange. And the boyfriend’s parents don’t seem to do anything about this? Strange.
David was so self-centred. Everything was about him. Someone’s divorce, someone’s death, you name it, he found a way to make it all come back to him. And I couldn’t tell what he and Jade even saw in each other, other than the physical attraction, because the book picks up after their relationship has sort of ended. Without knowing what it was that created that spark between the two of them, I found it very difficult to care about their ‘endless love’ (haha).
I thought that David was obsessed with Jade. He declared his love for her, committed crimes and violated conditions of his release because of his feelings for her, basically stalked her family in order to stalk her, etc. I found none of that romantic.
I did see the film adaptation with Kathy, and other than the names and a house fire, there wasn’t much else that seemed to come from the book. And you know what? I liked the movie! It honestly bore zero resemblance to the book, but I could tell just from the commercials that it was very very different, and I appreciated that. Had the movie followed the book much more closely, it would have been bleak.
I found the book sort of depressing, to be honest. David’s whole life was about Jade and in the end, it didn’t land him anywhere good. I felt bad for him, but I felt worse for the people that he had hurt in his quest to find and be with Jade.
I was really looking forward to our book club discussion on this one! There were some parts of the book that I know had us all reaching for the mind bleach (chapter 14!). I’m not really sure how to rate this one. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it. I didn’t like most (any?) of the characters, but thought the book overall was pretty well written. I’m all mixed up about this one!
Cover image and summary from Goodreads:
One of the most celebrated novels of its time, Endless Love remains perhaps the most powerful novel ever written about young love. Riveting, compulsively readable, and ferociously sexual, Endless Love tells the story of David Axelrod and his overwhelming love for Jade Butterfield.
David’s and Jade’s lives are consumed with each other; their rapport, their desire, their sexuality take them further than they understand. And when Jade’s father suddenly banishes David from the house, he fantasizes the forgiveness his rescue of the family will bring and he sets a “perfectly safe” fire to their house. What unfolds is a nightmare, a dark world in which David’s love is a crime and a disease, a world of anonymous phone calls, crazy letters, and new fears — and the inevitable and punishing pursuit of the one thing that remains most real to him: his endless love for Jade and her family.
I read this for The Sisterhood of the Traveling Book Club’s February pick, and wow…I had no idea what to expect with this one.
The characters were all so unlikeable and so strange. A family that does drugs together and not only permits their teenage daughter’s boyfriend to practically move in but buys them a huge bed to share? Strange. And the boyfriend’s parents don’t seem to do anything about this? Strange.
David was so self-centred. Everything was about him. Someone’s divorce, someone’s death, you name it, he found a way to make it all come back to him. And I couldn’t tell what he and Jade even saw in each other, other than the physical attraction, because the book picks up after their relationship has sort of ended. Without knowing what it was that created that spark between the two of them, I found it very difficult to care about their ‘endless love’ (haha).
I thought that David was obsessed with Jade. He declared his love for her, committed crimes and violated conditions of his release because of his feelings for her, basically stalked her family in order to stalk her, etc. I found none of that romantic.
I did see the film adaptation with Kathy, and other than the names and a house fire, there wasn’t much else that seemed to come from the book. And you know what? I liked the movie! It honestly bore zero resemblance to the book, but I could tell just from the commercials that it was very very different, and I appreciated that. Had the movie followed the book much more closely, it would have been bleak.
I found the book sort of depressing, to be honest. David’s whole life was about Jade and in the end, it didn’t land him anywhere good. I felt bad for him, but I felt worse for the people that he had hurt in his quest to find and be with Jade.
I was really looking forward to our book club discussion on this one! There were some parts of the book that I know had us all reaching for the mind bleach (chapter 14!). I’m not really sure how to rate this one. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it. I didn’t like most (any?) of the characters, but thought the book overall was pretty well written. I’m all mixed up about this one!
Oh, this book. It took me a very long time to get into (I think chapter 10, which is basically half the book because the chapters are FOREVER). Once I did, though, I wasn't able to put it down.
My favorite thing about this book is the fact that it didn't do any of the things I expected it to do. It wasn't about the early relationship between David and Jade; it started after he set the fire mentioned in the synopsis. I expected it to maybe start there and then have the bulk of the book be a flashback showing how he got to that weird and desperate point, but nope. I appreciated the fact that I had no idea where this book was going.
David also reminded me a lot of Humbert Humbert (the narrator of Lolita) because he was completely unreliable and had no real idea of how other people thought and felt. He cast himself and Jade as this great love story, almost star-crossed and epic in scope, and he didn't seem interested at all in anyone else's thoughts on it (unless they agreed).
I'm pretty sure David was also batshit crazy but I can't get more specific without giving any spoilers.
My favorite thing about this book is the fact that it didn't do any of the things I expected it to do. It wasn't about the early relationship between David and Jade; it started after he set the fire mentioned in the synopsis. I expected it to maybe start there and then have the bulk of the book be a flashback showing how he got to that weird and desperate point, but nope. I appreciated the fact that I had no idea where this book was going.
David also reminded me a lot of Humbert Humbert (the narrator of Lolita) because he was completely unreliable and had no real idea of how other people thought and felt. He cast himself and Jade as this great love story, almost star-crossed and epic in scope, and he didn't seem interested at all in anyone else's thoughts on it (unless they agreed).
I'm pretty sure David was also batshit crazy but I can't get more specific without giving any spoilers.