bakermmt 's review for:

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

2.25

challenging reflective 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: Yes

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The Crucible restored my faith in classics and then this promptly crushed it. It’s not a bad book I just really didn’t enjoy it. I found the story slow and predictable. I know it’s supposed to be a story about the effect of guilt on the conscience. I know it’s supposed to have deeper meaning and not just be a story but I couldn’t get myself to care enough about the broader meaning enough to make up for the lackluster story. The 1850 writing style is also just simply not for me. The over explaining and long description paragraphs made it very hard for me to keep focused. And I’m incredibly grateful the words betwixt and preternaturally went out of style because the frequency in which they were used drove me crazy.

This book wasn’t bad but it is the reason I won’t be reading more classics anytime soon. 2.33/5 stars