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abbiwesner's review
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
Minor: Suicide
kaylo88's review
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This book might have had mixed reviews, but personally, I found it a great read. The plot was clever, it was extremely well written and the characters were mostly well-rounded, though I did find myself wishing that some of the female characters had been given more in-depth backstories.
The story centers around a man who, along with his daughter and a male acquaintance, establishes a radical new school for girls. The idea behind the school is to teach girls the same way as boys. At first, everything seems to be going smoothly, but soon the girls begin to fall ill, and strange things begin to happen at the same time as red birds start nesting at the school.
I must admit that I found the male characters to be utterly despicable. Samuel, the father and mastermind behind the school, starts off with good intentions, but as soon as things start to go wrong, he abandons the idea of women being just as capable as men. It's disheartening to see how quickly he reverts to old-fashioned ideas about women's capabilities. And it probably makes him even worse than his contemporaries since he is such a hypocrite.
Unfortunately, the book is a sobering reminder that the medical community has a long history of downplaying women's symptoms and dismissing their concerns. While the book is a work of fiction, it's clear that the themes it explores are still relevant today.
My only gripe with the book is that I found the ending to be somewhat unsatisfying. While I can't put my finger on exactly what I was hoping for, I felt like there were too many loose ends left untied. It left me wanting more, but not necessarily in a good way.
The story centers around a man who, along with his daughter and a male acquaintance, establishes a radical new school for girls. The idea behind the school is to teach girls the same way as boys. At first, everything seems to be going smoothly, but soon the girls begin to fall ill, and strange things begin to happen at the same time as red birds start nesting at the school.
I must admit that I found the male characters to be utterly despicable. Samuel, the father and mastermind behind the school, starts off with good intentions, but as soon as things start to go wrong, he abandons the idea of women being just as capable as men. It's disheartening to see how quickly he reverts to old-fashioned ideas about women's capabilities. And it probably makes him even worse than his contemporaries since he is such a hypocrite.
Unfortunately, the book is a sobering reminder that the medical community has a long history of downplaying women's symptoms and dismissing their concerns. While the book is a work of fiction, it's clear that the themes it explores are still relevant today.
My only gripe with the book is that I found the ending to be somewhat unsatisfying. While I can't put my finger on exactly what I was hoping for, I felt like there were too many loose ends left untied. It left me wanting more, but not necessarily in a good way.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny and Sexual assault
cait888's review
5.0
This book does an excellent job of exploring modern ideas in a historical setting without giving historical characters anachronistic viewpoints (which is a real pet peeve of mine in current literary trends). I could recognize and identify with the way the women were ignored and silenced and expected to comply without the women having too take on 21st century philosophical stances.
angelamichelle's review against another edition
4.0
I flagged a bit in the second third, but loved the final third. Such interesting questions—how can women hold boundaries in a patriarchal world, how can a girl be in control of both her mind and body, how to reconcile what women really are with the world they live in.
[Alcott-esque intellectual founds a girls school]
[Alcott-esque intellectual founds a girls school]
kleonard's review
3.0
With the shadows and ghosts of the Alcotts and Louisa May Alcott's Little Women in particular populating its pages, this novel captures a brief span in a young woman's life during which her father, having been part of a failed self-sufficient utopia, decides to open a school. Recruiting a handful of girls for an experimental education, Caroline, her father Samuel, and teacher David embark on an adventure that turns sour as David's pious wife arrives, spoiling Caroline's hopes for a romance with David; and as one of the students, the daughter of Caroline's long-deceased mother's lover--begins to dictate the social order of the pupils. Finally, having fallen in to a mass hysteria, the girls are treated by one of Samuel's former utopian colleagues, a doctor who decides that the students all just need to release their tension through "paroxysms"--or orgasms, manually stimulated by the doctor. In the end, Caroline decides that this is wrong, and leaves her father for city life.
The book is well-written and often beautiful and evocative, but the plot was too predictable for me, and the remove with which the author's manner prose separates the reader and characters is too distant, and the characters too thin, for me to have gotten very invested in the outcome.
The book is well-written and often beautiful and evocative, but the plot was too predictable for me, and the remove with which the author's manner prose separates the reader and characters is too distant, and the characters too thin, for me to have gotten very invested in the outcome.
bookswithmaddi's review against another edition
3.0
Although I'm only giving this book 3 stars this could be one of my favorite books of all time. I'm not quite sure how that words...I'll say more later.
pfiffsay's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
beesteele's review against another edition
5.0
Rounded up from a 4.5 because I was hooked the whole time.
I was not surprised to find that this book wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I was drawn in from the beginning and stayed that way the whole way through. It isn’t a perfect book, but the lyrical, ruminating way in which it was written kept me there with Caroline (the main character) the whole way through, feeling quite anxious with her most of the time too.
Long story short, Caroline is the daughter of a famous essayist who, in Caroline’s childhood, had started a sort of commune for thinkers like him. The commune failed, Caroline’s mother died shortly thereafter, and Samuel raised Caroline on his own, teaching her his ways of thinking and, to be fair, granting her an education that most other women would not have been allowed to have in the mid-to-late-1800s. Inspired by the success he felt he’d achieved with Caroline, Samuel decides to start a school for girls to teach them in the same way, and Caroline is allowed to teach.
I think this book has some important things to say about the repression (and abuse!) of women, even in settings that claim to be uplifting for them. There is a lot of darkness and eeriness in this book, and it should be noted that sexual abuse does occur here (for content warning purposes). I personally think anyone who has ever felt the frustration of not being believed about your own health by those around you and by doctors will probably have quite a visceral reaction to this book.
If I had a complaint, it would be that I wish the book was longer to allow for the full development of the girls’ characters. The students aren’t massively fleshed out, because the story mostly follows Caroline, and I think it would have been interesting to take a closer look at them. However, this book was nice and short, one you could read in one sitting if you wanted to, and that quality would be sacrificed if it had been expanded.
I was not surprised to find that this book wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I was drawn in from the beginning and stayed that way the whole way through. It isn’t a perfect book, but the lyrical, ruminating way in which it was written kept me there with Caroline (the main character) the whole way through, feeling quite anxious with her most of the time too.
Long story short, Caroline is the daughter of a famous essayist who, in Caroline’s childhood, had started a sort of commune for thinkers like him. The commune failed, Caroline’s mother died shortly thereafter, and Samuel raised Caroline on his own, teaching her his ways of thinking and, to be fair, granting her an education that most other women would not have been allowed to have in the mid-to-late-1800s. Inspired by the success he felt he’d achieved with Caroline, Samuel decides to start a school for girls to teach them in the same way, and Caroline is allowed to teach.
I think this book has some important things to say about the repression (and abuse!) of women, even in settings that claim to be uplifting for them. There is a lot of darkness and eeriness in this book, and it should be noted that sexual abuse does occur here (for content warning purposes). I personally think anyone who has ever felt the frustration of not being believed about your own health by those around you and by doctors will probably have quite a visceral reaction to this book.
If I had a complaint, it would be that I wish the book was longer to allow for the full development of the girls’ characters. The students aren’t massively fleshed out, because the story mostly follows Caroline, and I think it would have been interesting to take a closer look at them. However, this book was nice and short, one you could read in one sitting if you wanted to, and that quality would be sacrificed if it had been expanded.