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A review by sarahbloomington
The Revolution of Marina M. by Janet Fitch
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
This is a hard book for me to review. Like others, Fitch is one of my favorite authors and Russian history has always fascinated me. But this book was difficult to get through, and not because of the length.
My first thought is, I kept waiting for the book to get started. At around 200 pages in, I realized that this was just the book, kind of meandering and disjointed at times. I felt that Marina was a mostly believable character, especially in the first third or half. As time went on, she became less believable and less likeable. Don't get me wrong, I can enjoy unlikable characters, but Marina was mean at times. There's a lot of focus in the first half on looks, but I didn't feel like it added anything to the book. Marina thinks her best ftiend is ugly and fat, and when talking to suffering proletariat women, she focuses on a large mole on a woman's face, etc. To what end? We already know she was spoiled, but this mean streak doesn't add anything valuable, it just makes me like her less.
The twists in the book, while they helped keep my attention, quickly became unbelievable, especially the last few hundred pages. And it's not just that the twists were unrealistic, they came out of nowhere and felt like random plot devices. There were times when Marina showed signs of PTSD from some of her experiences, but this was fleeting. I didn't get the feeling that she actually, emotionally experienced some of these wild events that she went through.
Overall, this book wasn't it for me. I love Fitch's writing and appreciate her level of research for this book. (Though, it did sometimes feel like she was trying to cram in facts and names that the average reader would have a hard time following.) After 800 pages and every plot twist imagineable, it still felt like not a lot happened. That said, I'm invested in the story and just ordered the second book.
If you didn't care for this book, please don't let it deter you from reading Fitch's others, they are worlds different!
My first thought is, I kept waiting for the book to get started. At around 200 pages in, I realized that this was just the book, kind of meandering and disjointed at times. I felt that Marina was a mostly believable character, especially in the first third or half. As time went on, she became less believable and less likeable. Don't get me wrong, I can enjoy unlikable characters, but Marina was mean at times. There's a lot of focus in the first half on looks, but I didn't feel like it added anything to the book. Marina thinks her best ftiend is ugly and fat, and when talking to suffering proletariat women, she focuses on a large mole on a woman's face, etc. To what end? We already know she was spoiled, but this mean streak doesn't add anything valuable, it just makes me like her less.
The twists in the book, while they helped keep my attention, quickly became unbelievable, especially the last few hundred pages. And it's not just that the twists were unrealistic, they came out of nowhere and felt like random plot devices. There were times when Marina showed signs of PTSD from some of her experiences, but this was fleeting. I didn't get the feeling that she actually, emotionally experienced some of these wild events that she went through.
Overall, this book wasn't it for me. I love Fitch's writing and appreciate her level of research for this book. (Though, it did sometimes feel like she was trying to cram in facts and names that the average reader would have a hard time following.) After 800 pages and every plot twist imagineable, it still felt like not a lot happened. That said, I'm invested in the story and just ordered the second book.
If you didn't care for this book, please don't let it deter you from reading Fitch's others, they are worlds different!