Take a photo of a barcode or cover
allisonjanicki 's review for:
To Paradise
by Hanya Yanagihara
What I liked about this book:
The political commentary; the overarching themes of race, family, wealth, and love; the unique environment in each section. I was excited to pick this book up and read what would happen next. It was long but felt easy to read.
What I didn’t like about this book:
The fact that it was split into three distinct sections was a choice that I could theoretically get down with, but felt like it did the story as a whole a disservice. What I love about Yanagihara is her ability to create such vivid characters, and it was disappointing to read and learn about the characters in each book, only to have them completely disappear thereafter.
Book 3 was also the hardest for me to read in terms of enjoyment; although it was one of the easier sections to read, I found the subject matter hit too close to home. Although it’s more of a personal preference that I don’t like reading about pandemics while we’re still in one, it still affected my reading experience and made me a little ~uncomfy~ (maybe that’s the point, but still, I tend to choose books for their escapism factor).
It seems cruel to constantly compare an author to their previous work, but that seems to come with the territory of being an author. This was no A Little Life and it didn’t pretend to be. While I wouldn’t call this book a miss, it did lack on some of the aspects that made A Little Life so special to me. I probably won’t forget about To Paradise, but I won’t feel the need to pick it up again, either.
The political commentary; the overarching themes of race, family, wealth, and love; the unique environment in each section. I was excited to pick this book up and read what would happen next. It was long but felt easy to read.
What I didn’t like about this book:
The fact that it was split into three distinct sections was a choice that I could theoretically get down with, but felt like it did the story as a whole a disservice. What I love about Yanagihara is her ability to create such vivid characters, and it was disappointing to read and learn about the characters in each book, only to have them completely disappear thereafter.
Book 3 was also the hardest for me to read in terms of enjoyment; although it was one of the easier sections to read, I found the subject matter hit too close to home. Although it’s more of a personal preference that I don’t like reading about pandemics while we’re still in one, it still affected my reading experience and made me a little ~uncomfy~ (maybe that’s the point, but still, I tend to choose books for their escapism factor).
It seems cruel to constantly compare an author to their previous work, but that seems to come with the territory of being an author. This was no A Little Life and it didn’t pretend to be. While I wouldn’t call this book a miss, it did lack on some of the aspects that made A Little Life so special to me. I probably won’t forget about To Paradise, but I won’t feel the need to pick it up again, either.