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gnomeniche 's review for:
Reluctant Immortals
by Gwendolyn Kiste
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
TO BE UPDATED AS I MAKE A MORE COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW
Enjoyable! Weaves together the central ideas of abuse/trauma with the ideas from the two central novels well. Solid, but this book LOVES to be so blunt with imparting its themes and central metaphor through both the narration and the imagery. It’s very direct and reiterated often. Not necessarily bad, since I love a book with a strong sense of its own central themes, but I kind of wish it let us put the ideas together ourselves sometimes. Ending was satisfying with the rest of the book. Liked the exploration of different ways people handle and heal from trauma, as well as how people treat them. The magic and shifts in how it is wielded seemed a little contrived sometimes, but overall I liked it and how it fit into the ideas of the original two novels.
Also liked the strong focus on female relationships and its careful avoidance of villainizing those manipulated by the main antagonists, even when they take harmful actions. Of course this book is in dialogue with the two original novels, but to me, it seems like it is also in dialogue with the larger enviroment of today’s vampire and gothic-derived fiction.
Also, embarrassingly, I was in fact expecting Daisy to turn out to be Gatsby Daisy, and she did not. But it’s a book about tragic women from classics, alright. I think she served a good purpose as she is, though.
Enjoyable! Weaves together the central ideas of abuse/trauma with the ideas from the two central novels well. Solid, but this book LOVES to be so blunt with imparting its themes and central metaphor through both the narration and the imagery. It’s very direct and reiterated often. Not necessarily bad, since I love a book with a strong sense of its own central themes, but I kind of wish it let us put the ideas together ourselves sometimes. Ending was satisfying with the rest of the book. Liked the exploration of different ways people handle and heal from trauma, as well as how people treat them. The magic and shifts in how it is wielded seemed a little contrived sometimes, but overall I liked it and how it fit into the ideas of the original two novels.
Also liked the strong focus on female relationships and its careful avoidance of villainizing those manipulated by the main antagonists, even when they take harmful actions. Of course this book is in dialogue with the two original novels, but to me, it seems like it is also in dialogue with the larger enviroment of today’s vampire and gothic-derived fiction.
Also, embarrassingly, I was in fact expecting Daisy to turn out to be Gatsby Daisy, and she did not. But it’s a book about tragic women from classics, alright. I think she served a good purpose as she is, though.