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michelles_books9's review against another edition
sad
tense
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
2.0
I was intrigued by the premise of this book, but it really fell flat for me. I felt like I didn’t really understand the point of the book and felt the story was just going from one trauma/drama/sex scene to the next with not much true development happening. The flashes to Lee’s time as a war correspondent felt disjointed and irrelevant to the rest of the story. It felt like there wasn’t really any resolution at the end nor did it really tie into the way the story began.
The characters were really flat for me as well. There wasn’t much depth to any of them or any attempt of growth, recognition of traumas or behaviors, or healing from said traumas. I would have liked more understanding of who the characters truly were and more of a wrestle with their issues. The whole thing with Lee’s father could have been fleshed out more and Lee never really admitted that her relationship with her father was inappropriate and that it wasn’t really her beauty her mother was jealous of. So much abuse was glossed over and not dealt with in favor of parties and artistic endeavors. Man and Lee’s relationship was obviously a huge issue as well. It was this weird tortured artist obsessed with his muse/ aspiring artist falls for her older teacher situation. Man was clearly controlling and made sure to keep Lee beneath him. Neither of them were able to be emotionally vulnerable with each other so their whole relationship was sex and inspiration in their art. I found myself wanting more information about Roland and Audrey and their influence in Lee’s life as well. I never really felt their purpose in the story.
I had absolutely no idea that Lee and Man were real people until the authors note at the end. This book didn’t leave me with much desire to learn more about them either because I didn’t really have much to go on.
In general sex in books isn’t much of an issue for me, but because so much of Lee’s sexual experience is rooted in abuse a lot of it was really uncomfortable. It was clear that her sexual behaviors were very unhealthy because of the unaddressed trauma. I wanted to DNF this book for this reason specifically, but I read this book for a challenge and didn’t want to forfeit my chance of completing it.
Overall I was underwhelmed with this book. I kept it on my shelf for years unable to pass it on and it wasn’t worth it.
The characters were really flat for me as well. There wasn’t much depth to any of them or any attempt of growth, recognition of traumas or behaviors, or healing from said traumas. I would have liked more understanding of who the characters truly were and more of a wrestle with their issues. The whole thing with Lee’s father could have been fleshed out more and Lee never really admitted that her relationship with her father was inappropriate and that it wasn’t really her beauty her mother was jealous of. So much abuse was glossed over and not dealt with in favor of parties and artistic endeavors. Man and Lee’s relationship was obviously a huge issue as well. It was this weird tortured artist obsessed with his muse/ aspiring artist falls for her older teacher situation. Man was clearly controlling and made sure to keep Lee beneath him. Neither of them were able to be emotionally vulnerable with each other so their whole relationship was sex and inspiration in their art. I found myself wanting more information about Roland and Audrey and their influence in Lee’s life as well. I never really felt their purpose in the story.
I had absolutely no idea that Lee and Man were real people until the authors note at the end. This book didn’t leave me with much desire to learn more about them either because I didn’t really have much to go on.
In general sex in books isn’t much of an issue for me, but because so much of Lee’s sexual experience is rooted in abuse a lot of it was really uncomfortable. It was clear that her sexual behaviors were very unhealthy because of the unaddressed trauma. I wanted to DNF this book for this reason specifically, but I read this book for a challenge and didn’t want to forfeit my chance of completing it.
Overall I was underwhelmed with this book. I kept it on my shelf for years unable to pass it on and it wasn’t worth it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and War
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