sunbeam_reader's review
challenging
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
Likes: The writing is undeniably beautiful. There were so many passages that I underlined and absolutely see my self going back to and enjoying. I liked the ambiguity of the narrator a lot. Jeanette Winterson is a lesbian and even though the lead character's gender, name, race, etc. are never revealed you can still sense the fact that this is a queer character because of the way that they interact with the world and their lovers. I also enjoyed the first few chapters of the book a lot.
• Dislikes: The plot of the book and the ending really fell flat for me. Things just ended out of the blue with seemingly no explanation and sometimes that's ok but because this story is about a romance having and ending like that doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I also feel like even though the beginning really caught me the rest of the book failed to keep my attention (I actually ended skimming some sections towards the end).
• REP: The lead character is bisexual and all the characters that are named are white as far as I know. One thing that struck me as a possible issue is that the villain of the story is a Jewish man. I am not Jewish so I cannot say that the depiction of him was anti-Semitic, however, the trope of the Jewish or Jewish coded villain is so common I felt it needed to be mentioned. I highly recommend trying to seek out reviews for this book by Jewish readers to find out more.
• Final Thoughts: I really just think this book was not for me. I wouldn't discourage people from reading it but it may not be your cup of tea. However, Winterson's writing is beautiful and I own another book of hers that I got for a class at Uni so I might give her another shot and see how I feel.
• Dislikes: The plot of the book and the ending really fell flat for me. Things just ended out of the blue with seemingly no explanation and sometimes that's ok but because this story is about a romance having and ending like that doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I also feel like even though the beginning really caught me the rest of the book failed to keep my attention (I actually ended skimming some sections towards the end).
• REP: The lead character is bisexual and all the characters that are named are white as far as I know. One thing that struck me as a possible issue is that the villain of the story is a Jewish man. I am not Jewish so I cannot say that the depiction of him was anti-Semitic, however, the trope of the Jewish or Jewish coded villain is so common I felt it needed to be mentioned. I highly recommend trying to seek out reviews for this book by Jewish readers to find out more.
• Final Thoughts: I really just think this book was not for me. I wouldn't discourage people from reading it but it may not be your cup of tea. However, Winterson's writing is beautiful and I own another book of hers that I got for a class at Uni so I might give her another shot and see how I feel.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Antisemitism, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, and Toxic relationship
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