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laura_partridge 's review for:
The Paper Palace
by Miranda Cowley Heller
I don’t know how I feel about this one just yet… this novel was much darker than I was expecting!
The writing is amazing and I could picture every part of it like I was there. However, I really didn’t care for any of the characters and I felt like the ending would’ve been the same whether Elle and Jonas had sex or not. I didn’t really understand the appeal of Elle in Jonas’ eye either. I empathized with her for all she had gone through in her childhood. It was heartbreaking knowing Jonas was the only one truly there for her during the short interactions they had during childhood and teens. I also felt a lot of her treatment towards others was to keep everyone at arms length but it eventually started to feel too self-righteous. Also! These two people FINALLY give into their feelings after about 35 years and it’s a quickie from behind? That just seemed way too detached to believe 30-35 years of long lost love and sexual tension. I could understand the guilt they both seemed to have over the tragic event but from my POV I don’t believe I would’ve felt that guilty and definitely not for as long as they both did. I did wish some characters had been written about more such as Anna (what led her to becoming closer with Elle?) and Nanette (what was life like in Guatemala after Wallace left?).
I’ll definitely read more from this author because her writing is beautiful.
The writing is amazing and I could picture every part of it like I was there. However, I really didn’t care for any of the characters and I felt like the ending would’ve been the same whether Elle and Jonas had sex or not. I didn’t really understand the appeal of Elle in Jonas’ eye either. I empathized with her for all she had gone through in her childhood. It was heartbreaking knowing Jonas was the only one truly there for her during the short interactions they had during childhood and teens. I also felt a lot of her treatment towards others was to keep everyone at arms length but it eventually started to feel too self-righteous. Also! These two people FINALLY give into their feelings after about 35 years and it’s a quickie from behind? That just seemed way too detached to believe 30-35 years of long lost love and sexual tension. I could understand the guilt they both seemed to have over the tragic event but from my POV I don’t believe I would’ve felt that guilty and definitely not for as long as they both did. I did wish some characters had been written about more such as Anna (what led her to becoming closer with Elle?) and Nanette (what was life like in Guatemala after Wallace left?).
I’ll definitely read more from this author because her writing is beautiful.