bestpartofafire's review against another edition
2.0
I really, really wanted to like it, but I honestly just found it rather dull.
emilybrittton's review against another edition
2.0
i couldn’t believe zooey was a man?! not what i was expecting. but once he started talking and didn’t shut up it all made sense. so disappointing but well written.
thebookshopgirl's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
gooberintheclub's review against another edition
4.0
I love JD Salinger. This rocked. A kind of meditation on obsession and spinning out of control. Lots of beautiful stuff about grief and siblings in here. Loved it and love it more the more i think about it. I hate star ratings idk 4/5? Wasn’t incredibly emotional for me but i enjoyed it a ton and it has brought a lot to my life and i keep thinking about it.
madde's review against another edition
2.75
I ultimately enjoyed JD Salinger’s writing style, but the story didn’t hold my interest. The novel read a bit like a play and something about the pacing of the dialog feels very real to me, all of which I enjoyed. However, the last half of the novel felt drug out and boring to me.
cj24's review against another edition
3.0
While the character development was superb and their personalities so strong, this book feel flat and didn’t seem finished to me. I believe the author could have taken a different turn and really made this into a fantastic novel by following all of the children and bringing their history and life into it. So very colorful but ended in black and white. However, I plan to read more by this author.
krsnris's review against another edition
2.0
I was very bored throughout the entirety of this novel. I realize that a lot of people believe the teenage/ young adult psyche is accurately conveyed through Franny and Zooey, but I just found them quite boring. Franny and Zooey are both intelligent, but their form of intelligence lead them to view others through extremely analytical lenses and expressed their “observations” using dense language. That language made it excruciating to get through this novel, and an extremely difficult task to grasp any form of understanding of the author’s intent. JD Salinger disappointed me ngl. I liked the last conversation between Franny and Zooey though quite a bit. The way they discuss their ruination and find sibling solidarity between one another was so satisfying to me. I felt like they were finally behaving like humans who feel. I mean, truly feel. Franny cried and has breakdowns like humans do, but even then she still feels like a robot built out of words and faulty programming. When she feels the connection between her and Zooey finally, I feel like she becomes someone who truly feels down to the soul. The fact that Zooey even called the line and had that conversation with Franny threw me off and made him grow on me. The sign of act change in emotion I felt toward this novel in those last 10 pages was significant. I dreaded reading every single word until those last 10 pages. The author being able to change my mind like that is why I give it the score I do. All of that being said, I feel that I just was not in the ideal headspace to really digest what was being said in the majority of the novel. I feel that when I get a bit older, this is a piece of work I might grow to love.
tylerburden's review
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
nth7's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.25
avery_skyler13's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25