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A review by thepiqht
The Life and Death of Sophie Stark by Anna North
4.0
Sophie Stark has changed her name. When she was much younger, she was a strange, constantly bullied kid named Emily Buckley. Now that she's an adult, she's no less strange but she is struggling to come to terms with it. Trying to understand what makes other people tick, and figure out how best to mimic this. How best to fit in.
She never quite succeeds in her endeavor. I'm not going to write too much about the plot, for fear of spoilers, but this book does what I love best in all books – character studies and exploration. The story is told from 4+ perspectives, so the readers are able to get an insight into a manipulative, confused and broken young woman, who doesn't quite understand the world that she lives in.
Anna North gives the readers a paradox in which you might find yourself hating the main character, but at the same time feel as though she deserves to be coddled, petted on the head and told that everything is going to be alright. She's terrible in the way that she handles others, but doesn't seem to realise what she's doing, while she's doing it. Her bemused nature replicates that of a child stuck in an adult body.
The writing was lovely. Really easy to get through, and it keeps you engaged throughout. I'm not sure whether the story was simply short, or if it just felt like that because of how quick paced the writing is. There were nice stylistic things as well, like how at the end of nearly each point of view, a review of Sophie's latest movie was written. By the same man, mind you, but it gives the readers a perspective on how outsiders saw her and the opportunity to compare that to how those who truly knew her, saw her.
I don't quite know what I should rate this. The book wasn't bad, so I'm not going to rate it lower than three stars, I feel as though I should rate it five stars but I don't think that it really had all the big of an impact on me. It was just . . . good. Plain and simple. Good.
She never quite succeeds in her endeavor. I'm not going to write too much about the plot, for fear of spoilers, but this book does what I love best in all books – character studies and exploration. The story is told from 4+ perspectives, so the readers are able to get an insight into a manipulative, confused and broken young woman, who doesn't quite understand the world that she lives in.
Anna North gives the readers a paradox in which you might find yourself hating the main character, but at the same time feel as though she deserves to be coddled, petted on the head and told that everything is going to be alright. She's terrible in the way that she handles others, but doesn't seem to realise what she's doing, while she's doing it. Her bemused nature replicates that of a child stuck in an adult body.
The writing was lovely. Really easy to get through, and it keeps you engaged throughout. I'm not sure whether the story was simply short, or if it just felt like that because of how quick paced the writing is. There were nice stylistic things as well, like how at the end of nearly each point of view, a review of Sophie's latest movie was written. By the same man, mind you, but it gives the readers a perspective on how outsiders saw her and the opportunity to compare that to how those who truly knew her, saw her.
I don't quite know what I should rate this. The book wasn't bad, so I'm not going to rate it lower than three stars, I feel as though I should rate it five stars but I don't think that it really had all the big of an impact on me. It was just . . . good. Plain and simple. Good.