Reviews

Arcadia by Lauren Groff

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laura_reads_'s review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

libdibs's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I think this might be my perfect book

novelette's review against another edition

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3.0

The entire second half, after he left Arcadia, seemed like just filler. The author goes directly from Bit leaving Arcadia as a teen, to his adulthood. It seemed like she missed the middle, and what I think everyone was looking for. I wanted to know Bit's take on the "outside world"; the size of an elephant, how others dressed, what regular kids were like. It's almost like she wrote up to leaving Arcadia, and then was told she needed more.

sreyasreya's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5

bee_67's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

reneerianne's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I was saving this book for when I was craving a culty read, but unfortunately, it did not really live up to those expectations. I still loved reading about Arcadia and the way that the Arcadians lived, but I did not really connect to any of the characters. This story starts out being narrated by 3-year-old Bit, which makes it hard to understand exactly what is going on in Arcadia. As he ages, Arcadia crumbles and I did really enjoy the bits where he was learning to live in 'normal' society, but they were a small part of the book. I am drawn to read more by Lauren Groff based on this experience though, because I saw other reviews say that the characters in her other novels were stronger.