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dorisxu's review
2.0
too pretentious for my eyes i started skimming but i also kinda wanna give it three stars
sydney_arcuri's review
3.0
i am starting to realize that I don't like reading books about rich people complaining about their lives.
vaibhavsh2624's review
3.0
A 3.5 stars. Although the main story is enjoyable, my reading experience was hindered by the constant business talk. The highly privileged world view of the characters, despite being a requirement for this particular book, didn't help the matters. The characters are memorable and the writing is exquisite, it still couldn't completely pull me in.
The main conflict of the story was well sketched out but didn't reach anywhere satisfactory in the climax. There were only two possible endings to this book and unfortunately I was rooting for the one our author didn't go for.
Still, the portrait of a mirror is a well written book with adequate amount of art talk. Read it for it's take on art, privilege and fidelity.
The main conflict of the story was well sketched out but didn't reach anywhere satisfactory in the climax. There were only two possible endings to this book and unfortunately I was rooting for the one our author didn't go for.
Still, the portrait of a mirror is a well written book with adequate amount of art talk. Read it for it's take on art, privilege and fidelity.
blue_reader's review against another edition
slow-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
2.0
Boring, with annoying characters. There were some highlights with the original type of writting style. But outside of that the characters where very annoying with an underwhelming ending
jessfiore14's review
5.0
This book, in the loosest of terms, is like Normal People (lovers who can’t/ won’t communicate, forbidden fruit type trope) x Succession (elitist out-of-touch assholes who are so obliviously flawed that you hate them just a little more then you pity them). It’s sooooo raw, a character study of the people you see on the street and scoff at but are also secretly jealous of/ curious about. The characters are smart, just radiating the kind of intellectualism devoid of empathy or compassion for anyone other then their own sorry self-inflicted issues. The author does a fabulous job of capturing the niche culture of higher- class art/humanities snobs, especially in the northeast US (nyc/philly). The writing itself is witty, smart, hilarious, insightful, observant, and just so so real. This has been sitting on my shelf for a while and it is probably one of my top reads of the year!
emilyfeldmesser's review against another edition
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
genesisreads's review against another edition
funny
reflective
slow-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
4.0
amnoweb's review
1.0
DNF — probably should’ve known a book about callous rich people wouldn’t speak to me
squintingqueen's review against another edition
slow-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
3.0
ryankelly's review
3.0
Thanks to Netgalley & The Overlook Press for a review copy!
*3.5 stars
The Portrait of a Mirror is, in its best moments, a satirical millennial rom-com with all the trappings of a Shakespearean comedy. The book is a re-imagining of the Greek myth of Narcissus, the boy who fell in love with his own reflection and subsequently perished because he couldn't bear to look away. Fittingly, the main characters are all extraordinarily wrapped up in their own narcissism (a commentary on a certain type of millennial: white, heterosexual, upper-class city dwellers).
Though Joukovsky's prose is self-consciously pretentious, it occasionally comes across as overwrought and even tedious as characters repeatedly soliloquize over their internal agonies. The narration of the book was, additionally, a little discordant: jumping from one character to another, then suddenly to an omniscient narrator, then to various pieces of media (email conversations, physical mail, and Instagram comments, for a few examples).
The ending of the book was predictable, which, within the genre, is not a deal-breaker. However, it did seem to drag on for a few more chapters than was entirely necessary. The overall effect of the book was, in my opinion, a little hectic and overambitious. Nonetheless, enough of it was enjoyable to finish reading it, and I will likely be mulling over the apt application of Greek mythology to New York's elite for the next few days.
*3.5 stars
The Portrait of a Mirror is, in its best moments, a satirical millennial rom-com with all the trappings of a Shakespearean comedy. The book is a re-imagining of the Greek myth of Narcissus, the boy who fell in love with his own reflection and subsequently perished because he couldn't bear to look away. Fittingly, the main characters are all extraordinarily wrapped up in their own narcissism (a commentary on a certain type of millennial: white, heterosexual, upper-class city dwellers).
Though Joukovsky's prose is self-consciously pretentious, it occasionally comes across as overwrought and even tedious as characters repeatedly soliloquize over their internal agonies. The narration of the book was, additionally, a little discordant: jumping from one character to another, then suddenly to an omniscient narrator, then to various pieces of media (email conversations, physical mail, and Instagram comments, for a few examples).
The ending of the book was predictable, which, within the genre, is not a deal-breaker. However, it did seem to drag on for a few more chapters than was entirely necessary. The overall effect of the book was, in my opinion, a little hectic and overambitious. Nonetheless, enough of it was enjoyable to finish reading it, and I will likely be mulling over the apt application of Greek mythology to New York's elite for the next few days.