A review by moonilism
Still Life by Sarah Winman

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

1.75

What I enjoyed was the beauty of the writing, the clear passion the author has for art and Florence (which was a joy to read around my own trip to the city), the small tribute to Forster and A Room with a View, and the portrayal of found family. However it has to be said that most of the characters bored me. The relationships and bonds that they had were made out to be so profound and life-changing but I just failed to feel what I assume I was supposed to feel about them. None of the characters were particularly flawed or vulnerable. There was a tone of all-knowingness to all the main cast, especially the women, that made them so... idk, boring? I am a bit surprised at how high the rating for this book is, because while it is lovely in many ways I couldn't feel any of the emotional impact due to the distance of the characters from me as the reader. The choice to forego quotation marks also didn't improve things for me, but I do get what she was going for. Clearly just isn't for me! Look forward to discussing it with my buddy reader though, as always. 

More specific character rants:
I found the calling of Alys "Kid" so weirdly annoying, and her unrealistic cleverness at 9yo, though I guess it was meant to be quirky the way the parrot was also super intelligent? Don't get me started on Peg, the beautiful enigma who can do no wrong and has everybodyyy obsessed with her while actively making stupid choices and choosing not to parent her daughter.  I found Evelyn (and her several lesbian cohorts) such a boringggg character, most of her chapters were a drag to read including the epilogue. Lastly, why does the book place emotional weight on Darnley, who gets about 2 paragraphs of screen time and of whom we know basically nothing about and then gets the closing passage of the book focused on him?