wintermelons 's review for:

A Separate Peace by John Knowles

3.0

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What saved this book from getting a 2 star or below is how it was able to get such an emotional reaction from me. I have never been felt so much anger while reading a book, especially from one assigned in english class. To be honest, I hated it. I hated the main character, Gene, and how he delt with his situation with Finny. I hated his actions, and how he just couldn't fucking say what was on his mind. I hated the jealousy and envy that consumed him, as I almost started to relate to him at some point until the tree incident. It was shocking, horrifying, and I felt nothing but anger and frustration for Gene. On the contrary, I loved Finny. Sure, he was a too good to be true character but his sincere and genuine personality just won me over. He deserved much more than he got for his ending, which is all I will say. The only part I really liked was the beach scene where Gene stared at Finny and the description was finally not boring crap and it just flowed so nicely together. Then of course, it goes downhill from there. I hated the rest, how it ended, and most of the characters were unlikable and a boring slate. However, I'm almost impressed on how much emotion this book was able to get out of me, so there must have been some good writing there. If I could, I would actually give this a 3.5. I don't know if I would recommend it for anyone, unless they like delusional angst and terribly upsetting books.