rieviolet's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I am a bit unsure about the style of narration but I have to say that, in general, 1st person narrations are not really my cup of tea (expect for memoirs). I took me a while to get into it and at times I found it not so well crafted and it really took me out of the story. Sometimes, I felt as if I was given too much of the character's thoughts and feelings, and very little remained for me to work out and imagine myself.
Moving on to the choice of switching between different narrators for each chapter. It certainly offers many diverse points of view but it also feels a bit scatterd and confusing (especially at the very beginning of the story when you are still getting used to the big cast of characters); you get a little glimpse into a character and then
move on without knowing when you're going to return to them. I think that it takes a lot of time to get into the charactes and to feel a connection and also, at times, their characterization really baffled me.
I appreciated the historical dimension, the focus on the conditions of women and the commentary on class, especially pointing out the lack of consciousness about this aspect in the women's suffrage movement. I also quite liked the choice of the graveyard as one of the main settings, it certainly added to the melodramatic tone.
I became more interested in the story as I read on and I have to say that a lot of what happens in the
final section of the book I really did not expect and it made me want to keep going to see how it would end.
All in all, I found it a good read but I was not completely convinced by the characterizations and by
some of the stylistic and narrative choices.
Moving on to the choice of switching between different narrators for each chapter. It certainly offers many diverse points of view but it also feels a bit scatterd and confusing (especially at the very beginning of the story when you are still getting used to the big cast of characters); you get a little glimpse into a character and then
move on without knowing when you're going to return to them. I think that it takes a lot of time to get into the charactes and to feel a connection and also, at times, their characterization really baffled me.
I appreciated the historical dimension, the focus on the conditions of women and the commentary on class, especially pointing out the lack of consciousness about this aspect in the women's suffrage movement. I also quite liked the choice of the graveyard as one of the main settings, it certainly added to the melodramatic tone.
I became more interested in the story as I read on and I have to say that a lot of what happens in the
final section of the book I really did not expect and it made me want to keep going to see how it would end.
All in all, I found it a good read but I was not completely convinced by the characterizations and by
some of the stylistic and narrative choices.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Grief, Sexism, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Abortion, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, and Sexual content
Minor: Alcoholism
leah_alexandra's review
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The multitude of perspectives used to tell this story means that the reader never really feels a strong connection to the characters, for the most part. But it was an interesting, if sad, story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, Sexism, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Abortion and Murder
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