A review by serenereadssally
The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller

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

3.0


I have mixed feelings about this book. Within the first 5 minutes of reading this there is an unnecessary description of child sexual abuse, just thrown in a paragraph like it’s nothing. 

This then becomes a theme throughout the book, which also includes abusive neglectful parents, animal abuse, incest, child rape, knife crime and, now seeming tame in comparison, marital infidelity. 

While I understand we should not run from these subjects I’m not sure in this case we should have run towards them. A lot of the descriptions felt gratuitous and not needed. The writing was good, hence the three stars, but this just backs up my opinion that she didn’t need to throw all this at the storyline in such a graphic way. I skipped over the sexual abuse scenes as they were truly stomach churning. 

I also felt that while I know not all stories ‘go somewhere’ the ending left me feeling very flat. But then, I wonder where it could have gone anyway. 

The character building was wonderful, the atmosphere and ambience of the back woods was delicious. She captured guilt and loss and heartbreak perfectly and I enjoyed the unusual timeline, but I feel she didn’t need all the other stuff. 

Definitely think it’s a divisive book. Would I recommend? Probably no, there are much better in this genre. Please make sure you read trigger warnings. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️
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