Reviews

To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara

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anjalisudarsan's review against another edition

5.0

Took me a while to read and understand this brilliant novel. The author definitely has put a lot of thought into the way she writes, it felt so beautiful, the pace was perfect, and it was almost poetic.
The fact that all three books ended with an open ending did not irk me, probably because I’d spent so much time thinking about the dystopian worlds and the characters. I did think it was odd that the names (Edward, Charles, Nathaniel) were repeated in each books as distinct characters, however it sort of went with the flow for me. I probably enjoyed the first story the most, the third one, set in the future, made me a bit tense. Probably since it hit too close to home with pandemics and state control

soph_od's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

3.0

Having adored A Little Life, I was so excited to get into To Paradise.

However, while enjoyable, I cannot help being a tad disappointed by it.

The joy and mastery in Yanagihara's writing is her ability to use such intricate detail to flesh out characters and character growth to a stage where they feel almost alive - however, the three story structure of To Paradise lost this a little. Perhaps it would have been more powerful if the characters across stories were interconnected by more than just their names and vague themes.

A struggle to become absorbed in, and dragged at times, but there were still moments of writing that were spellbinding and captivating.

jmhvandijk's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional sad 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

5.0

rndmltrs's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad 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

4.5

jana_banana_'s review against another edition

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3.0

I also yap a lot when I need to reach the word count on my work. However it never seemed possible for it to be 700 pages of was it really that serious. Did ugly cry tho

eryndiamond's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

1.0

It was just weird and slow , I read like 300 pages but just could not get into it. Looked up the summary online and doesn’t seem like it went anywhere.