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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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
Much better than the 1984 original. Julia’s character is able to assess human connection or rather disconnection far better than Orwell ever gave female characters credit for.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Torture, Violence
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, War
Minor: Pedophilia
I would recommend this to everyone because despite dystopian books being hard to read with the current state of the world and news, this book is a guide and a warning to what happens when we fail to exercise our critical thinking muscle. Therefore, I actually found the book quite promising and inspirational.
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Julia is the perfect companion piece for 1984. I found it dug through all my original qualms with Orwell's novel.
Julia's character finally makes sense in a human way. Newman gives her a background, biases, and desires. She makes her feel real. I absolutely loved how complex Julia's character was; not fully likeable, not fully hateable, and unlike 1984, not just mirror-like.
I appreciated how Newman imagined women's and girls' lives in Orwell's dystopia. Authority figures still abuse them, but now there's even less avenues for safety; and getting pregnant is viewed very differently depending on how it happened. I found Newman really hammered hard on the pregnancy theme, which got a bit too much for me, but I still appreciated the inclusion Orwell complete forgot to add.
Winston, in Julia's eyes, is an absolute loser. I loved that. His ramblings about hating his wife, him thinking his morality is superior to everyone else's; it got really tiring whilst reading 1984, but I was strangely entertained whilst reading it through Julia's perspective.
I did find the book a bit long and on the slow-paced side of things. But I did really appreciate finally giving other 1984 characters more depth (even O'Brien felt more real than in the original novel).
Julia's character finally makes sense in a human way. Newman gives her a background, biases, and desires. She makes her feel real. I absolutely loved how complex Julia's character was; not fully likeable, not fully hateable, and unlike 1984, not just mirror-like.
I appreciated how Newman imagined women's and girls' lives in Orwell's dystopia. Authority figures still abuse them, but now there's even less avenues for safety; and getting pregnant is viewed very differently depending on how it happened. I found Newman really hammered hard on the pregnancy theme, which got a bit too much for me, but I still appreciated the inclusion Orwell complete forgot to add.
Winston, in Julia's eyes, is an absolute loser. I loved that. His ramblings about hating his wife, him thinking his morality is superior to everyone else's; it got really tiring whilst reading 1984, but I was strangely entertained whilst reading it through Julia's perspective.
I did find the book a bit long and on the slow-paced side of things. But I did really appreciate finally giving other 1984 characters more depth (even O'Brien felt more real than in the original novel).
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
No
First off, props to Sandra Newman for taking on a classic and creating a Julia that fit in snugly with the original novel by George Orwell.
Now, onto my actual opinions of this book. Personally, I found there to be way too much sex. I get that that’s a very significant trait of Julia’s, but I just don’t care to read about that. The Winston Smith in this seems much more shallow, and felt like Newman was finding a way to undermine every lesson Orwell initially tried to teach. I’m also kind of confused by what exactly Newman was trying to tell her readers. But I don’t know - I’m not very good at literary analysis. Newman also made the motives of the Party or Thought Police muddled and pointless as compared to Orwell’s very complicated motives about truly defeating their enemies. (That was hard enough to understand in the first place.) If everyone double-crosses the double-crossers, I can’t keep up.
So, I guess Newman’s take on 1984 was a success in that it didn’t outright contradict the original text and could be believable, but it just doesn’t work in the end, in my opinion.
Now, onto my actual opinions of this book. Personally, I found there to be way too much sex. I get that that’s a very significant trait of Julia’s, but I just don’t care to read about that. The Winston Smith in this seems much more shallow, and felt like Newman was finding a way to undermine every lesson Orwell initially tried to teach. I’m also kind of confused by what exactly Newman was trying to tell her readers. But I don’t know - I’m not very good at literary analysis. Newman also made the motives of the Party or Thought Police muddled and pointless as compared to Orwell’s very complicated motives about truly defeating their enemies. (That was hard enough to understand in the first place.) If everyone double-crosses the double-crossers, I can’t keep up.
So, I guess Newman’s take on 1984 was a success in that it didn’t outright contradict the original text and could be believable, but it just doesn’t work in the end, in my opinion.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Police brutality, Abortion, Pregnancy
Minor: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Rape, Blood, Excrement, Dementia, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Alcohol, Classism
challenging
dark
tense
medium-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 really enjoyed the first half of this book and how it flipped 1984 and provided a new perspective. The second half really dragged it down, especially the ending which is such a disservice to George Orwell's original masterpiece. I know people like hope, but sometimes you shouldn't give it to them - it ruined this book.
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book almost broke me as much as 1984 did.
Since Julia is from the female POV of how it is to operate within the Party it reminds me The Handmaid’s Tale. Mostly because there’s apregnancy tie in. While not a pregnancy trope I’m not sure it’s central to the plot, but it does create tension.
This version of the story is a bit longer than the original, and it is hard to get through some of the tougher topics later on. This book is just as brutal as 1984. No less violent or emotionally brutal.
Read with caution.
Since Julia is from the female POV of how it is to operate within the Party it reminds me The Handmaid’s Tale. Mostly because there’s a
This version of the story is a bit longer than the original, and it is hard to get through some of the tougher topics later on. This book is just as brutal as 1984. No less violent or emotionally brutal.
Read with caution.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Physical abuse, Torture
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Pregnancy
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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:
No
dark
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
medium-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