ye_li's review
adventurous
dark
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Stalking
Moderate: Blood, Alcohol, Confinement, and Injury/injury detail
Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Suicidal thoughts
leilabelle's review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Despite my not-quite-5-stars, this is my favourite book. Hands down. Maybe I’m personally just fascinated by metafiction, the concepts of stories and endings, chaotic structures and fantastical philosophy, because I know a lot of people don’t love the way this book lacks focus on characters and has a fragmented structure, but the whole thing is so MOVING to me. It’s an ode to stories and to endings and explores fate and one’s place within it, all through the lens of a thoughtful, young, gay uni student.
If you read this and didn’t like it the first time, I highly recommend you try it again!! I hated it the first time because it wasn’t at all what I expected, but once you know what to expect, you can actually appreciate the symbolism, ambiance and purpose behind the novel. You’ll come to understand it to be a bit like Alice in Wonderland with deliberacy behind its chaos, despite the somewhat regular structure of the first half of the book. I took off half a star because I feel like the structure could have been refined further, but all in all, BEAUTIFULLY written and I honestly recon I’ll end up getting a tattoo related to this book some day :)
If you read this and didn’t like it the first time, I highly recommend you try it again!! I hated it the first time because it wasn’t at all what I expected, but once you know what to expect, you can actually appreciate the symbolism, ambiance and purpose behind the novel. You’ll come to understand it to be a bit like Alice in Wonderland with deliberacy behind its chaos, despite the somewhat regular structure of the first half of the book. I took off half a star because I feel like the structure could have been refined further, but all in all, BEAUTIFULLY written and I honestly recon I’ll end up getting a tattoo related to this book some day :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Confinement, Pregnancy, and Sexual content
norwegianforestreader's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, Death, Alcohol, Body horror, Confinement, Murder, Injury/injury detail, Sexual assault, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief
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