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emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Drug use, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit
So the back of the book promised a historical feminist read about the woman who helped Vincent Van Gogh's paintings be appreciated in the public eye. Instead, the story told of a woman, Johanna Bonger, who was sent to Paris to find a fiance and ended up marrying none other than Vincent's brother Theo Van Gogh. Only after four hundred pages―in which Johanna courts and marries Theo, gives birth to their son Vincent Willem, hears of Vincent's ill mind mostly through Theo―she finally starts to do what the back of the book promises; she starts spreading Vincent's art around. But she has to be a widow before anything starts. And so my question is; why is the book 'sold' as "the woman painted out of history" when only the last 10% of the book is actually about it?
Now because the story tells of people who were real I feel the author could've written them with more respect than she did. For the first half of the book Vincent seems like the worst person possible, Sara Voort (a fictional character) existing only to muddle things between Johanna and the Van Gogh brothers, Andries, Johanna's brother, only around when it was convenient for the plot, but when he was no longer needed to bring Theo and Johanna together, he disappeared for quite the while.
The writing was sort of cringe, for the lack of a better word, and terribly overwritten. The diary entries didn't bring anything to the story since the book was written in first person pov in Johanna's voice and sounded exactly the same as the rest of the book, if not slightly more dramatic and cliché. Johanna was written in such a strange, disappointing way. She was childish and spoiled, her world revolving first around the man who used her, then her brother, then the Van Goghs', never quite existing for her own sake. She was arrogant and pompous, utterly annoying to follow, which I'm sure the real Johanna Bonger was not.
Perhaps it's just me, but even if the author did say she wrote very creatively, added people that did not exist and such, I suppose I would've preferred a version of the story more grounded in reality since it was a story about people who did in fact exist once upon a time.
Now because the story tells of people who were real I feel the author could've written them with more respect than she did. For the first half of the book Vincent seems like the worst person possible, Sara Voort (a fictional character) existing only to muddle things between Johanna and the Van Gogh brothers, Andries, Johanna's brother, only around when it was convenient for the plot, but when he was no longer needed to bring Theo and Johanna together, he disappeared for quite the while.
The writing was sort of cringe, for the lack of a better word, and terribly overwritten. The diary entries didn't bring anything to the story since the book was written in first person pov in Johanna's voice and sounded exactly the same as the rest of the book, if not slightly more dramatic and cliché. Johanna was written in such a strange, disappointing way. She was childish and spoiled, her world revolving first around the man who used her, then her brother, then the Van Goghs', never quite existing for her own sake. She was arrogant and pompous, utterly annoying to follow, which I'm sure the real Johanna Bonger was not.
Perhaps it's just me, but even if the author did say she wrote very creatively, added people that did not exist and such, I suppose I would've preferred a version of the story more grounded in reality since it was a story about people who did in fact exist once upon a time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Alcohol