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cav241's review against another edition
dark
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
ceealaina's review against another edition
4.0
I really, really enjoyed this book, and I can't even fully articulate why.
It was confusing, and it's definitely not for everyone. It jumps around a lot, both in time and location, and there's a whole lot of characters, some of them called by different names, so it's hard to keep everyone straight. And I admit that at first I had a hard time keeping focused on the book.
But about halfway through... I don't know, it just started to draw me in more and more. I still had a hard time keeping everyone straight, but once I stopped worrying about it, it seemed to get easier. The whole thing was a little surreal, but the language was lovely, and it was just a really enjoyable experience.
It was confusing, and it's definitely not for everyone. It jumps around a lot, both in time and location, and there's a whole lot of characters, some of them called by different names, so it's hard to keep everyone straight. And I admit that at first I had a hard time keeping focused on the book.
But about halfway through... I don't know, it just started to draw me in more and more. I still had a hard time keeping everyone straight, but once I stopped worrying about it, it seemed to get easier. The whole thing was a little surreal, but the language was lovely, and it was just a really enjoyable experience.
maajaa's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
itismebruna's review against another edition
Although the subject is interesting and I would love to learn more about this part of the history, the execution, language and format of the book were not really engaging me.
alisonjfields's review against another edition
5.0
I’ll be the first to say that this book is not for everyone, but good sweet goddamn, it is absolutely the book for me.
nabillatte's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
A strange novel, that was a bit more all over the place than I would have liked, jumping between a fictional tennis match between Caravaggio and Quevedo, their lives and works, the history of tennis, emails from the author to his publisher, of Cortez and Malintzin (which surely laid the groundwork for You Dreamed of Empires), and more. Still interesting throughout, but the all over the place nature, which I suppose was meant to mimic a tennis match, meant it lacked a little cohesion.
yrsbrn's review against another edition
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5