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hopeloveslit's reviews
313 reviews
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
4.0
Ethan Frome is a melancholic cautionary tale of forbidden love and the anguish it produces. It’s a tragic and unforgettable novel.
I enjoyed innumerable aspects of Ethan Frome but the writing is my favorite part. I wish to bottle up Edith Wharton’s prose and add drops to my morning coffee. I’m obsessed with her evocative imagery, dramatic structures, and simple but elegant diction.
“But at sunset the clouds gathered again, bringing an earlier night, and the snow began to fall straight and steadily from a sky without wind, in a soft universal diffusion more confusing than the gusts and eddies of the morning. It seemed to be a part of the thickening darkness, to be the winter night itself descending on us layer by layer.”
Wharton creates a gloomy ambiance throughout this novel. Set in a small and bleak Massachusetts town, the reader can feel the isolation, yearning, and poverty like humid air. The harsh winters set the novel’s despairful tone and the implied effects on the characters who live through them.
“Guess he’s been in Starkfield too many winters.”
Overall, I can’t recommend this book enough. It’s the perfect story to read on a snowy day. In the future, I’ll be rereading this book during the winter. Wharton’s passages about winter are some of my favorites from Ethan Frome. If you love tragedies and winter, you'll definitely enjoy this book.
"And there were other sensations, less definable but more exquisite, which drew them together with a shock of silent joy: the cold red of sunset behind winter hills, the flight of cloud-flocks over slopes of golden stubble, or the intensely blue shadows of hemlocks on sunlit snow."
I enjoyed innumerable aspects of Ethan Frome but the writing is my favorite part. I wish to bottle up Edith Wharton’s prose and add drops to my morning coffee. I’m obsessed with her evocative imagery, dramatic structures, and simple but elegant diction.
“But at sunset the clouds gathered again, bringing an earlier night, and the snow began to fall straight and steadily from a sky without wind, in a soft universal diffusion more confusing than the gusts and eddies of the morning. It seemed to be a part of the thickening darkness, to be the winter night itself descending on us layer by layer.”
Wharton creates a gloomy ambiance throughout this novel. Set in a small and bleak Massachusetts town, the reader can feel the isolation, yearning, and poverty like humid air. The harsh winters set the novel’s despairful tone and the implied effects on the characters who live through them.
“Guess he’s been in Starkfield too many winters.”
Overall, I can’t recommend this book enough. It’s the perfect story to read on a snowy day. In the future, I’ll be rereading this book during the winter. Wharton’s passages about winter are some of my favorites from Ethan Frome. If you love tragedies and winter, you'll definitely enjoy this book.
"And there were other sensations, less definable but more exquisite, which drew them together with a shock of silent joy: the cold red of sunset behind winter hills, the flight of cloud-flocks over slopes of golden stubble, or the intensely blue shadows of hemlocks on sunlit snow."
Only Dull People Are Brilliant at Breakfast by Oscar Wilde
4.5
Only Dull People Are Brilliant at Breakfast is a short and pleasurable read. It showcases Oscar Wilde’s adored wit and genius through a collection of witticisms. I loved how congenial Wilde’s points and statements were. I’ll be reading this book over and over. I cannot recommend it enough.
I annotated the entire book *sign of a slay* but here are some of my favorite quotes!
“To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance.”
“Are there not books that make us live more in one single hour than life can make us live in a score of shameful years?”
“The aim of life is self-development. To realize one’s nature perfectly – that is what each of us is here for.”
“Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.”
“It would be unfair to expect other people to be as remarkable as oneself.”
I annotated the entire book *sign of a slay* but here are some of my favorite quotes!
“To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance.”
“Are there not books that make us live more in one single hour than life can make us live in a score of shameful years?”
“The aim of life is self-development. To realize one’s nature perfectly – that is what each of us is here for.”
“Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.”
“It would be unfair to expect other people to be as remarkable as oneself.”
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
4.0
“This is the story of what a Woman's patience can endure, and what a Man's resolution can achieve.”
The Woman in White is a sensational mystery. It’s one of the best Victorian novels I’ve read. It's densely plotted with the perfect use of gothic aesthetics. If you're not familiar with novels from this era, you may not like Collins's long-winded prose. I believe he does it well though.
"There, in the middle of the broad bright high-road—there, as if it had that moment sprung out of the earth or dropped from the heaven—stood the figure of a solitary Woman, dressed from head to foot in white garments, her face bent in grave inquiry on mine, her hand pointing to the dark cloud over London, as I faced her."
Collins takes readers into deception, madness, love, and suspense. I loved the complexity of Collins's writing style. He effortlessly strung together one of the most intense plots. The narrative flows so well, that you will probably forget you’re reading!
“It was cold and barren. It was no longer the view that I remembered. The sunshine of her presence was far from me. The charm of her voice no longer murmured in my ear.”
The novel follows a teacher, Walter, and his encounter with a ‘woman in white’ who has escaped an asylum. To keep this review spoiler-free, that’s all I’ll say about the plot. However, I couldn’t have guessed where this story was going! Overall, I highly recommend this novel if you like intricate mysteries.
The Woman in White is a sensational mystery. It’s one of the best Victorian novels I’ve read. It's densely plotted with the perfect use of gothic aesthetics. If you're not familiar with novels from this era, you may not like Collins's long-winded prose. I believe he does it well though.
"There, in the middle of the broad bright high-road—there, as if it had that moment sprung out of the earth or dropped from the heaven—stood the figure of a solitary Woman, dressed from head to foot in white garments, her face bent in grave inquiry on mine, her hand pointing to the dark cloud over London, as I faced her."
Collins takes readers into deception, madness, love, and suspense. I loved the complexity of Collins's writing style. He effortlessly strung together one of the most intense plots. The narrative flows so well, that you will probably forget you’re reading!
“It was cold and barren. It was no longer the view that I remembered. The sunshine of her presence was far from me. The charm of her voice no longer murmured in my ear.”
The novel follows a teacher, Walter, and his encounter with a ‘woman in white’ who has escaped an asylum. To keep this review spoiler-free, that’s all I’ll say about the plot. However, I couldn’t have guessed where this story was going! Overall, I highly recommend this novel if you like intricate mysteries.
The New Couple in 5B by Lisa Unger
2.0
I wouldn't recommend this audiobook. The story is already flat (for me,) and the performance wasn't much better.
Thank you to Libro.fm for the audiobook.
Thank you to Libro.fm for the audiobook.
Not My Baby by Anya Mora
1.5
I wouldn't call this novel a thriller. A mystery? For sure! The plot wasn't working for me and the writing was lackluster. Overall, I wouldn't recommend it!
Thank you to Libro.Fm for the audiobook.
Thank you to Libro.Fm for the audiobook.
Home Is Where the Bodies Are by Jeneva Rose
2.0
I didn’t love Home Is Where the Bodies Are but it was entertaining! The plot twist was okay. I was expecting so much more. I felt super let down! All in all, it’s a wild family drama and that’s always fun.
Thank you to Libro.fm for the alc!
Thank you to Libro.fm for the alc!
The Sundial by Shirley Jackson
3.0
Although The Sundial is among my least favorite novels by Jackson, it’s a novel unlike any other I’ve read. The Sundial is a creepy tale about a family who believes the world’s end is approaching and only those on the family estate will survive.
The characters are weird in the best Jackson kind of way. Mrs. Halloran was my favorite to read about. I enjoyed her cruel character, and as the “ring leader” of the family, it made for a delightful read! All in all, I’d recommend this novel to fans of Jackson and gothic fiction.
The characters are weird in the best Jackson kind of way. Mrs. Halloran was my favorite to read about. I enjoyed her cruel character, and as the “ring leader” of the family, it made for a delightful read! All in all, I’d recommend this novel to fans of Jackson and gothic fiction.