A review by fabilous_books
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

10 months of this book... 10 months of all this stuff going on with drugs and alcohol and obsession and guilt. the plot is slow and not much going on. We follow Theo's life. His life is a catastrophe as he puts it. He drinks and takes drugs, thanks to Boris. The whole story is without a direction, we start with Amsterdam and it seems he's in trouble. Then, we continue from when he was 13. The story is long and without a purpose. We are as lost as Theo. yes, its long but at times it is very intriguing but for the other parts, boring... The last 100 pages to be should not exist. Better to leave Boris seeing Theo in the hotel room the second time. I did not need that much closure... for a book that says that there’s no moral or story, there’s no resolution, we didn’t need 40 pages worth morals and what Theo learns from this life. 

Theo is not an interesting character, self-destructive, sad and definitely guilty. He has borderline creepy obsessions over the things he "love". Probably thanks to the childhood trauma he has of losing his mother. 

Boris is a mess. He seems to be doing well despite his horrible lifestyle and health. Maybe he's pretending very well. 

Pippa is not as interesting as Theo sees her. 

Anyways, saving grace of this book is the writing. Thank goodness for it. it's beautiful and fluid, might be too descriptive but the way Donna describes loss and emotions. I love it. 

YEs, I'm complaining here but I did enjoy the book but just disappointed that I did not love it.
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