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clairewilsonleeds's review against another edition
3.0
I do like books which are just about wandering around, having conversations. But this one was a little artsy fartsy/male for me. Worth a read - I liked the female character.
fonda's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
anneliehyatt's review against another edition
3.0
A lot of heart, made me cry….there is so much love and happiness and tenderness in this book but also the form was just too much sometimes and I couldn’t care less about Gabi or how incredible the Maestro is or how hot Tom and Lorien are (even though I love them!!)…truly have never read anything like it. Beautiful and intense and also difficult to get through for no reason. I want everyone to read it.
Hard agree that it is like the Linklater Before trilogy (a connection I made myself) but just not as good haha
Hard agree that it is like the Linklater Before trilogy (a connection I made myself) but just not as good haha
susannah_n's review against another edition
3.0
I hoped this would be better. Niven Govinden set the scene of the novel really well, but the pretentiousness of the main character (the otherwise nameless "Maestro") and the way the focus of the story moved back-and-forth didn't work for me. The secondary characters were appealing, but that wasn't enough. And the story really lost me with its references to the film that the Maestro is promoting: an adaptation of William Maxwell's The Folded Leaf. I read The Folded Leaf before I read Diary of a Film because I knew it referenced Maxwell's story, but I don't actually know why Govinden bothered to call it an adaptation since it basically just used the names of that book's title, author, and main characters, and changed the rest. And yes, I realize that adaptations often just use the names of a book's title, author, and characters, but in a book about a director in which his latest movie's plot is not even secondary to the novel's plot, it hardly seemed necessary.
tattic's review
reflective
relaxing
medium-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? It's complicated
3.0