A review by zinelib
The World Cannot Give by Tara Isabella Burton
4.0
Laura Stearns from a suburb of Las Vegas yearns for a World-Historical life, in the manner of Sebastian Oliver Webster who authored Laura's favorite book, All Before Them. Webster attended St. Dunstan's, a New England boarding school, and now Laura is headed there as well, for her junior year of high school. She's an emotional person, but passive, rather than passionate. She finds St. Dunstan's church choir, especially its leader Virginia Strauss, transcendent, and eventually takes a place among them. Virginia and the choir are Laura's whole world.
If you think that sounds like a recipe for disaster, you're right. The World Cannot Give is a Literary read, with a lot of messed up white people (including a hot priest). I embraced the artistry of Burton's writing most of the way through, but found the ending a little too too. It's not bad, I just didn't quite get there. I feel like there's something I didn't connect to that more sophisticated readers would pick up.
Thanks, NetGalley for the digital ARC!
If you think that sounds like a recipe for disaster, you're right. The World Cannot Give is a Literary read, with a lot of messed up white people (including a hot priest). I embraced the artistry of Burton's writing most of the way through, but found the ending a little too too. It's not bad, I just didn't quite get there. I feel like there's something I didn't connect to that more sophisticated readers would pick up.
Thanks, NetGalley for the digital ARC!