quietspeaks 's review for:

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

2.5

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

On the one hand, you've got Hester, basically sticking it to the man in Puritan Boston, which is pretty cool. Important themes of guilt, secrets, all that jazz. On the other hand...good god, Hawthorne, brevity was not thy friend, was it? This book is DENSE. Like, need-a-nap-and-a-dictionary-after-each-chapter dense – and I read dictionaries for fun. It's slow going, and the sheer wordiness is something else. I swear some paragraphs were just showing off thesaurian skill. I found myself skimming descriptions just to find out what happened next...which often wasn't much, or pages at a time. Worth reading for the lit cred, but maybe clear your schedule. 

Rating System: 

2.5 Stars: Hints of Mental Beige Overlay. Okay, it wasn't complete sad mental beige. There were moments, maybe a character quirk or a plot point, that generated a hint of color. But it didn’t sustain, leaving me to think about lunch or whether my dogs understand that I speak on their behalf. Finished mostly out of spite, obligation, or because it was better than a blank stare. Vaguely irritating, like an itchy tag or an out-of-place seam on a sock.