A review by katiejane
Love & Virtue by Diana Reid

emotional reflective medium-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? It's complicated

3.5

Listened to the audiobook nicely narrated by Emma Leonard.

Nothing super new here, but I'm glad I read this book. Reid was just 24 when she wrote it, and it was interesting to see how a young person in 2021 was thinking about these issues.

I found the characters and dialogue believable. And I think Reid's done well to capture the tendency in academia to analyse, philosophise and extrapolate meaning from personal experiences often to the detriment of the person trying to process/live with them. And that doing this without the person's consent is another way to violate them. And that there's a tension here between wanting to think deeply and conceptually about things without becoming and object yourself. There's more to unpick here, but I think the novel's strength is its unending cry for its protagonist to be seen as a whole messy person wanting as much agency and autonomy as possible despite the labels thrown on her.

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