A review by cecereads__
The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller

4.5

This was defo a page-turner for me. I was pretty much fully immersed in the story.
I think the author is very accomplished in getting the characters to act/interact/react authentically (however disturbing or sad it might be for the reader). Quite a lot of deeply disturbing/tragic occurrences making it a very tough read at times. There’s a point where I wanted to fight one of the characters… I was beyond fuming.
The weakness of the dad was hard to read. The girls had a lot going against them from the start. Many of the things that happened (outside of the most heinous ones done by Conrad which made me f-ing fuming) made me want to cry for them.
Anna was a favourite. Eleanor is definitely a flawed character - sometimes you know what explains her behaviour but it was also clear that she didn’t want the responsibility of making the choice between the two. But it is almost impossible when you have a love for both, I do recognise that. Not sure how I felt about the ending bc she could easily change her mind from one moment to the next. Which was so heartbreaking for Jonas to keep having to relive. I do, though, like that she was self-aware most of the time e.g. in how her blaming Jonas (unfairly but understandably immaturely) was their downfall after the drowning - but Jonas was 14 at the time for goodness sake … 
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