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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Wow!!!! Really beautiful work, really arresting, just harrowing stuff. It was just cold shower of despair over cold shower of despair, I couldn't put this down.
This book had potential. It had a woman who could have been an interesting anti-heroine and had a part of WWII that is fairly uncovered ground for a setting. It dealt with colonialism, internalized racism and sexism, had a decent amount of action.
Unfortunately, I think the book just spread itself too thin. I wanted more time with Cecily. She seemed to be a woman of intelligence who was stifled and frustrated by the role that she was expected to play in her time and place. Her intelligence was ignored, she was just expected to be a good mother and wife. Cecily looked down on her husband, who groveled to the British colonizers and who had no idea who she was. She felt stifled by her three children. When a charming man who seemed to respect her thoughts more than her body came along, Cecily fell for his ideas and for him, ripe for the taking.
I was interested in this portrayal of a woman who was not sweet, who was not a paragon of female attributes, who betrayed her husband over and over again. Cecily was enthralled with her Japanese handler and the fact that he didn't seem to respond to her as a woman, only as a co-conspirator, both frustrated and stimulated her. She loved that he respected her abilities and ideas and was obsessed with making him see her as desirable too. Cecily also felt great guilt for what she was doing and behaved erratically and in an unhinged way to the trauma that her family was subjected to.
But then the author split the book and had POV chapters for each of Cecily's three children. Jujube was the dutiful daughter who held it all together. Abel was the golden son who ended up in a labor camp and who couldn't cope with the abuse visited upon him there. And Jasmin was only 8 or 9 years old, forced to hide in a basement during the day so no one would grab her for a comfort girl and who somehow made friends with one of those girls anyway.
This was just too much going on and I honestly didn't care about Cecily's family any more than she did. I was interested in her self-justification and complicated psychology. By the end, everything devolved into an over the top soap opera with threatened poisonings, secret sisters, and obliterating fires.
Also, this author seems to really have a thing about odors. She describes everyone's bad breath, stinking hair, fouled clothing, and spoiled food over and over and over again. It felt weird and obsessive by the end as well as unpleasant.
Unfortunately, I think the book just spread itself too thin. I wanted more time with Cecily. She seemed to be a woman of intelligence who was stifled and frustrated by the role that she was expected to play in her time and place. Her intelligence was ignored, she was just expected to be a good mother and wife. Cecily looked down on her husband, who groveled to the British colonizers and who had no idea who she was. She felt stifled by her three children. When a charming man who seemed to respect her thoughts more than her body came along, Cecily fell for his ideas and for him, ripe for the taking.
I was interested in this portrayal of a woman who was not sweet, who was not a paragon of female attributes, who betrayed her husband over and over again. Cecily was enthralled with her Japanese handler and the fact that he didn't seem to respond to her as a woman, only as a co-conspirator, both frustrated and stimulated her. She loved that he respected her abilities and ideas and was obsessed with making him see her as desirable too. Cecily also felt great guilt for what she was doing and behaved erratically and in an unhinged way to the trauma that her family was subjected to.
But then the author split the book and had POV chapters for each of Cecily's three children. Jujube was the dutiful daughter who held it all together. Abel was the golden son who ended up in a labor camp and who couldn't cope with the abuse visited upon him there. And Jasmin was only 8 or 9 years old, forced to hide in a basement during the day so no one would grab her for a comfort girl and who somehow made friends with one of those girls anyway.
This was just too much going on and I honestly didn't care about Cecily's family any more than she did. I was interested in her self-justification and complicated psychology. By the end, everything devolved into an over the top soap opera with threatened poisonings, secret sisters, and obliterating fires.
Also, this author seems to really have a thing about odors. She describes everyone's bad breath, stinking hair, fouled clothing, and spoiled food over and over and over again. It felt weird and obsessive by the end as well as unpleasant.
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ik twijfel écht tussen 1 en 2 sterren. Ik heb namelijk op geen enkele manier genoten van dit boek. Het had voor de helft korter gekund. Ik had een hekel aan ieder personage in dit boek (de jongste dochter was echt onuitstaanbaar). Het einde was rommelig.
medium-paced