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A review by mary_do_12
Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
first of all, what the fuck.
second of all, let me start from the beginning.
to be honest, i got this book recommended by chatgpt. i plead guilty. chatgpt told me that this book was similar to „the secret history“.
and it was, in the beginning especially.
the set of characters really drew me in from the start and there were certain similarities detectable between this friend group and the one in „the secret history“:
camilla — jade
francis — nigel
henry — charles
richard — blue
and so forth.
the problem with all this was that i really liked „the secret history“, in fact, it was the best book i’ve read this year and maybe beyond.
but „special topics in calamity physics“ — it might have been even better. and i feel like i’m betraying my dear darling boy (tsh) to this new book that is basically „the secret history“ in a different font.
even though i knew that hannah was going to die from the very first page on, my jaw literally dropped when i read the scene. i was flabbergasted. and from then on, it just kept on getting worse and worse.
this is also when it all kind of went astray from tsh (luckily? because i can view them as two separate things…?) and i was flabbergasted even more.
i believe a considerable amount of people would absolutely freak out at the unresolved ending, and though i’m not usually a fan of those either, this one tickled some part of my brain… but not in a bad way?
that‘s not to say i was happy with the ending, no, excuse me (may i repeat) what the fuck?, there’s so many loose ends that i can’t tie together myself.
yet i believe that the fact that i’m getting so worked up over this is a sign of the greatness of this book. it guarantees that i will be thinking about it for days (if not weeks).
i have questions, a lot of them, and they will all be left to my imagination. so beware if you open this book…you will never be able to close it again entirely.
second of all, let me start from the beginning.
to be honest, i got this book recommended by chatgpt. i plead guilty. chatgpt told me that this book was similar to „the secret history“.
and it was, in the beginning especially.
the set of characters really drew me in from the start and there were certain similarities detectable between this friend group and the one in „the secret history“:
camilla — jade
francis — nigel
henry — charles
richard — blue
and so forth.
the problem with all this was that i really liked „the secret history“, in fact, it was the best book i’ve read this year and maybe beyond.
but „special topics in calamity physics“ — it might have been even better. and i feel like i’m betraying my dear darling boy (tsh) to this new book that is basically „the secret history“ in a different font.
even though i knew that hannah was going to die from the very first page on, my jaw literally dropped when i read the scene. i was flabbergasted. and from then on, it just kept on getting worse and worse.
this is also when it all kind of went astray from tsh (luckily? because i can view them as two separate things…?) and i was flabbergasted even more.
i believe a considerable amount of people would absolutely freak out at the unresolved ending, and though i’m not usually a fan of those either, this one tickled some part of my brain… but not in a bad way?
that‘s not to say i was happy with the ending, no, excuse me (may i repeat) what the fuck?, there’s so many loose ends that i can’t tie together myself.
yet i believe that the fact that i’m getting so worked up over this is a sign of the greatness of this book. it guarantees that i will be thinking about it for days (if not weeks).
i have questions, a lot of them, and they will all be left to my imagination. so beware if you open this book…you will never be able to close it again entirely.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol