rebeccazh's reviews
2320 reviews

I actually enjoyed this quite a bit. One thing I really liked: the sensitivity both characters showed for each other and for the abuse they'd each suffered. I'd originally thought this book was going to gloss over Hannah's rape, which would have been awful, because abuse is not something that should be swept under the rug, but the author didn't.
I also originally thought that this book was just going to be about Hannah and her struggles because Garrett didn't seem to have a shitty past, but he did, and I really liked that the book managed to allow both these characters and their issues to breathe and to just be there in the book with little jostling, with no comparing, no, "he is more of a victim because his abuse was worse", or anything like that - abuse is abuse and it's not about who is more of a victim. The author acknowledged that, and said that oppression was oppression. I liked that a lot.
I also really their conversations - lighthearted and quick and easy to read. It felt very real. I expected only a PWP love story but I really liked how the author approached the characters and abuse with such care.

Read this for my Twentieth Century module. I fell head over heels in love with this book. I'll always have a special fondness for it because it introduced me to how empowering postmodernism can be.

Reread. I've missed Harry's world - it was great to be back in it. Really enjoy the style and the deadpan/witty humor.

Only read certain lyric sections for my course; some of the lyric sections were lovely and really stayed with me. Others, less so.

Really enjoyed this. I've finally read this classic novel. Random thoughts: it's remarkable how casually and vindictively cruel Heathcliff is. He's a matched pair with Catherine. It's satisfying that the children represent a chance of redemption and a better future.

I loved reading this so much. I can't believe it took me so long to read it.

It is rebelliously feminist; way ahead of its time. My favorite thing was the realism with which the novel is written. Jane's emotions/feelings/thoughts are so realistic and detailed. It was so enjoyable to read. I grew to really like, admire, and esteem Jane. She sticks to her morals no matter how hard it is -- the setbacks and misfortunes that she encounters don't knock her down, but refine and strengthen her beliefs. I was overseas when I read the last part where Jane had to go around and beg, and I couldn't help shuddering in sympathy. I found Rochester to be an arrogant asshole but he is a character who is so very intriguing to read about. LOL he's a Byronic hero -- the Byronic hero is the original 'bad boy with a heart-of-gold' trope amirite. Bertha, though. I just did a postcolonial mod this semester and I can almost hear the postcolonialists pouncing on her character -- I'm looking forward to reading [b:Wide Sargasso Sea|25622780|Wide Sargasso Sea|Jean Rhys|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1453021061s/25622780.jpg|142647].

I was talking to my friend about this book, and I was surprised to find that she disagreed with Jane's decision to leave Rochester. My friend thinks that Jane is hypocritically and unrealistically clinging to some perceived moral high ground, because in the end, she goes back to Rochester. Her reasoning is this: no one knows Bertha exists, Rochester is rich and able to support the both of them, and both Rochester and Jane love each other, so there is no reason for Jane to leave him, and that it is kinda stupid of her to, really. What if they both change and can no longer reconcile? He'd be the one that got away, since he was so perfect for her. She's foolish to uphold some perceived moral high ground when she should seize the opportunity/reality.

As we were discussing, I started thinking of Jane Austen's novels. [b:Jane Eyre|10210|Jane Eyre|Charlotte Brontë|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327867269s/10210.jpg|2977639] is written about 30 years after [b:Pride and Prejudice|1885|Pride and Prejudice|Jane Austen|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1320399351s/1885.jpg|3060926]. I'm amazed. I couldn't think of two novels more different. Aside from the writing and the focus of the authors and everything, I was thinking that in Austen's world, wealth/money/property is a big a reason for marriage -- I mean, Lizzie seeing the Pemberley estates was part of her process of transformation/falling in love with Darcy. Austen also supports social structure, to some extent; she critiques it, but ultimately, she thinks we should keep to it, because it is flawed, but there is still value to it. It made me really appreciate how ahead of its time [b:Jane Eyre|10210|Jane Eyre|Charlotte Brontë|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327867269s/10210.jpg|2977639] is. Jane doesn't care about Rochester's money, and the novel criticizes the social structure in a way that suggests there's little worth in it.

Soooo I really loved reading this book. It was so good.

I'm glad I gave this book a try. Despite the typical premise/setting of the novel (the YA dystopia genre is filled with books with the same setting/plot/relationships), the author writes in a way that makes this book quite engrossing and fun to read.

I actually got all the way to about 60-70% before I stopped reading. I stopped mainly because of that damn love triangle/quadruple which I spotted the minute Elias's pov was introduced. When they started really laying groundwork for it

Spoiler

(Laia and Elias start spending more time, Laia and Keenan also start sharing scenes where they connect/understand each other, Helene getting jealous because of Laia)

I just noped my way out. I hate love triangles/quarduples/etc.

The things that kept me reading was actually the plot. The author seems to have planned the book well; there are lots of characters who are introduced who have hints of backstory peeking out through the things they say, and it made me so curious who was who. The main driving force that got me all the way through three quarters of the book was because I was so curious how the Commandment, the Cook, Keenan, and Izzi (just to name some) tie to Laia and the Rebellion and her parents.

I also really appreciated Laia's cowardice/caution. I really hate physical pain, and high-tension situations (like being in danger of getting caught). It's reassuring/validating to see a main character struggle with cowardice/caution, and the resulting self-censure.

So, a pretty decent book, despite the familiar trappings.

I actually read this last year. or last last year, I can't remember. had to reread again for class.