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A review by lushyouth
The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
Its hard for me to rate this book because I had nothing short of a great time reading it, but after finishing it, there's so many blaring issues that fog up my affection for it.
Alessandra's character is inconsistent to say the least. Or maybe inconsistent isn't the correct word, but I mean it in the sense that, throughout the book, we are constantly being told that she's a free spirit, bold and stubborn, but yet she never fails to conform to what others want of her. You can say that she's stubborn all you want but that doesn't prove to me that she is.
Her main goal is freedom. Freedom to explore the world and freedom to explore art. Yet she so easily allows those things to be held from her. She gives in to her mother's wants, she gives into her husband's wants, etc and honestly without too much pushback.
This book i think focused on the wrong things. We got way too much of the cities politics and not enough of the painter, Alessandra trying to make art and things of that nature. The story was full of almost every other character just telling Alessandra what is happening in Florence, which in retrospect, didn't give much to the story. And now because of that, we were left with not enough room to show things or answer questions the reader could actually benefit from, or use to enrich the story. Why did Tomaso hate Alessandra enough to attempt to ruin her life? Why did we get so little of the painter? Infact, we got so lottle of the painter, we didn't know him at all. We knew nothing of who he is as a person because he was not given any time to show it. We have a few brief scenes where he and Alessandra crossed paths, but not nearly enough. Especially if the story is being told by Alessandra, why is she focusing on telling the politically turmoil of the city she was barely able to explore instead of telling us more about this painter who she is supposedly enamored with?
It's hard to decide a rating, but I think I'll go for a 3, because as much as the reading experience for the most the book was positive for me, after finishing it, I'm left quite upset.
Now onto the ending. If it weren't for the ending, a lot of the issues I have with the book could've been easily ignored if it was done well. Instead, the ending left me confused and enraged.
Now don't get confused here, I tend to very much appreciate when there's an unhappy ending, because usually it's called for and a bold choice. Usually I like them because although it hurts, you could feel that it was inevitable. However, that's not the case in The Birth Of Venus.
The whole ending chunk of the book after Cristoforo ran off with Tomaso was so insanely perplexing. So let me get this straight. Alessandra only married this man because he would allow her freedom of art and exploring the city and if she didn't marry him, she would be sent away to a nunnery. First off, if her mom knew about this nunnery that would allow her to do art, why wouldn't she tell Alessandra about it from the jump when the french were first an issue? Secondly, after Alessandra was left a widow, she was finally able to completely freely do what she wanted. She had MULTIPLE options that made sense the her character's motivations. 1. With her new found freedom and wealth, she could've left for Rome to find the painter (which i was expecting her to do, when her mother spoke about how staying in Florence would isolate her) 2. She could've stayed in Florence and done art, commission art, maybe settle scores with her remaining siblings, raise her daughter in the city she loved so much. But no, she decided to become a nun because of the threat of Florence not treating her well as a widow? I'm sorry, I thought she was supposed to be stubborn? AND, since when has Florence treated her particularly well?
And so at the nunnery, the painter finds her and she claims to be happy being married to god, yet gets nasty w the painter every night he's at the convent? Then sends her daughter off with him to learn from him. Ok, fair enough on that part. But remember, she claims to be content as a nun, right? She tattoos his art on her body, an art piece dipicting him as a serpent with his tongue near her genitals, and becomes depressed without him or her daughter. And becomes so unhappy that after him and her daughter stop writing letters, her painting supplies taken, Erila going off to live her own life, she commits suicide. This shit make no type of sense.
Alessandra's character is inconsistent to say the least. Or maybe inconsistent isn't the correct word, but I mean it in the sense that, throughout the book, we are constantly being told that she's a free spirit, bold and stubborn, but yet she never fails to conform to what others want of her. You can say that she's stubborn all you want but that doesn't prove to me that she is.
Her main goal is freedom. Freedom to explore the world and freedom to explore art. Yet she so easily allows those things to be held from her. She gives in to her mother's wants, she gives into her husband's wants, etc and honestly without too much pushback.
This book i think focused on the wrong things. We got way too much of the cities politics and not enough of the painter, Alessandra trying to make art and things of that nature. The story was full of almost every other character just telling Alessandra what is happening in Florence, which in retrospect, didn't give much to the story. And now because of that, we were left with not enough room to show things or answer questions the reader could actually benefit from, or use to enrich the story. Why did Tomaso hate Alessandra enough to attempt to ruin her life? Why did we get so little of the painter? Infact, we got so lottle of the painter, we didn't know him at all. We knew nothing of who he is as a person because he was not given any time to show it. We have a few brief scenes where he and Alessandra crossed paths, but not nearly enough. Especially if the story is being told by Alessandra, why is she focusing on telling the politically turmoil of the city she was barely able to explore instead of telling us more about this painter who she is supposedly enamored with?
It's hard to decide a rating, but I think I'll go for a 3, because as much as the reading experience for the most the book was positive for me, after finishing it, I'm left quite upset.
Now onto the ending. If it weren't for the ending, a lot of the issues I have with the book could've been easily ignored if it was done well. Instead, the ending left me confused and enraged.
Now don't get confused here, I tend to very much appreciate when there's an unhappy ending, because usually it's called for and a bold choice. Usually I like them because although it hurts, you could feel that it was inevitable. However, that's not the case in The Birth Of Venus.
The whole ending chunk of the book after Cristoforo ran off with Tomaso was so insanely perplexing. So let me get this straight. Alessandra only married this man because he would allow her freedom of art and exploring the city and if she didn't marry him, she would be sent away to a nunnery. First off, if her mom knew about this nunnery that would allow her to do art, why wouldn't she tell Alessandra about it from the jump when the french were first an issue? Secondly, after Alessandra was left a widow, she was finally able to completely freely do what she wanted. She had MULTIPLE options that made sense the her character's motivations. 1. With her new found freedom and wealth, she could've left for Rome to find the painter (which i was expecting her to do, when her mother spoke about how staying in Florence would isolate her) 2. She could've stayed in Florence and done art, commission art, maybe settle scores with her remaining siblings, raise her daughter in the city she loved so much. But no, she decided to become a nun because of the threat of Florence not treating her well as a widow? I'm sorry, I thought she was supposed to be stubborn? AND, since when has Florence treated her particularly well?
And so at the nunnery, the painter finds her and she claims to be happy being married to god, yet gets nasty w the painter every night he's at the convent? Then sends her daughter off with him to learn from him. Ok, fair enough on that part. But remember, she claims to be content as a nun, right? She tattoos his art on her body, an art piece dipicting him as a serpent with his tongue near her genitals, and becomes depressed without him or her daughter. And becomes so unhappy that after him and her daughter stop writing letters, her painting supplies taken, Erila going off to live her own life, she commits suicide. This shit make no type of sense.