Reviews

Pure Colour by Sheila Heti

samidhak's review against another edition

3.0

The misery of reading an abstract literary novel is that at some point it becomes too abstract and starts to go bonkers. And that is exactly what happened in this one. Mira, our flighty main character - if you can even call her that, is an artist trapped inside her own trauma. She's living in the first draft of God's creation where she has to navigate her growing romantic feelings for a friend while grappling with the death of her father. The first 130 pages are truly golden. I loved how Heti describes Mira's time in a lamp shop and then later the jewellery shop; the narration is almost like direction in a movie.

The second part is heavily focused on the father-daughter relationship. Mira goes through a spiritual metamorphosis in which her father's soul coalesces with her own and together they inhabit a leaf. Initially I thought it was beautiful, but after about 50 pages of her meandering around the world as a leaf I started to loose the metaphor. And since that point the book went downhill for me. Passages would swap between Annie and her dad's death and the timelines shrunk to become more confusing.

I think it was a strong start and concept, but lacked the same complexity in its finish. Even though its a short read the philosophical concepts became too abstract to follow.

marlanadavis's review against another edition

1.0

this book sucked all of the enjoyment out of reading for me and nearly put me in a slump. but it also made me cry. 1.5 stars ???

hansel's review against another edition

2.0

I think maybe if I felt a little more spiritual or something I could have appreciated this… it was nice writing but for me it didn’t suit a novel.

starrygal's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I can tell this book will stick with me for awhile. 

erinaries's review against another edition

4.0

i am too dumb for this but i fucked with what she said about art a lot. minus one star for the amount of times the word ejaculated was used.

if i ever meet lucy dacus tho i can tell her i read this book and maybe she will want to be my best friend (probably not) (a girl can dream) (lucy if u see this.....hey)

nah_steck's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

Time to reflect on my connection with the universe 

lynneliu's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad fast-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? No

3.25

lcc37's review against another edition

3.0

Some of the sentences in this book sing and the ideas are interesting but the narrative structure was at times inscrutable (for example: at one point, the protagonist becomes a leaf).

emilychau's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

beeatriz's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-paced

3.0