slimy's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Alright, look. I have a personal reservation in offering critique on books that were originally written in another language because I really believe they will always be slightly altered, so please take the following with a grain of salt:
This is a beautifully written book. A beautifully heartbreaking, frustrating book. I would put this in the same category as “A Little Life” by Hanya Yanagihara. I would not recommend this to anyone who is currently in a less-than-good state of mental and emotional wellbeing. It follows a tragic main character, who hasn’t healed from past sexual trauma, who starts accompanying her Aunt, a nun, on her evangelical visits to a ‘death-row’ prison. There she meets an inmate who sparks a change in her view of life, death, and her responsibilities to herself and her family.
Beautiful portrayal of Christian forgiveness, learned selflessness, and healing from sexual trauma. The main character is the one who carries and develops these themes; I felt that the secondary character (who I think is supposed to also do a lot of the developmental work as well) falls a little short as a fully-rounded character. I don’t feel a lot of empathy or emotion for them besides what is voiced by the main character.
I was recommended this book and told it was a romance. And like… it’s definitely not. Literally no mention of romance until the very end when it’s like “what if?”.
Rated three stars because this type of book just really isn’t my jam. I feel back because it was well-written and beautiful, but really really difficult to read because its just not what I want to feel when reading. I like to read for the escapism.
This is a beautifully written book. A beautifully heartbreaking, frustrating book. I would put this in the same category as “A Little Life” by Hanya Yanagihara. I would not recommend this to anyone who is currently in a less-than-good state of mental and emotional wellbeing. It follows a tragic main character, who hasn’t healed from past sexual trauma, who starts accompanying her Aunt, a nun, on her evangelical visits to a ‘death-row’ prison. There she meets an inmate who sparks a change in her view of life, death, and her responsibilities to herself and her family.
Beautiful portrayal of Christian forgiveness, learned selflessness, and healing from sexual trauma. The main character is the one who carries and develops these themes; I felt that the secondary character (who I think is supposed to also do a lot of the developmental work as well) falls a little short as a fully-rounded character. I don’t feel a lot of empathy or emotion for them besides what is voiced by the main character.
I was recommended this book and told it was a romance. And like… it’s definitely not. Literally no mention of romance until the very end when it’s like “what if?”.
Rated three stars because this type of book just really isn’t my jam. I feel back because it was well-written and beautiful, but really really difficult to read because its just not what I want to feel when reading. I like to read for the escapism.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
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