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svetyas4's reviews
193 reviews
Zeus Grants Stupid Wishes: A No-Bullshit Guide to World Mythology by Cory O'Brien, Sarah Melville
5.0
State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
2.0
Liked the slow build for this one, and after such a slow beginning (sometimes perhaps a little tedious), the end was a wild ride of twists and turns, which was really fun and which I tore through in one day, after spending weeks getting through the first 3/4 of the whole thing!
What I didn't like about this was the characters, particularly the main character Marina. I failed to connect with her throughout the entire book, finding her generally unlikeable. The other characters inexplicably come to like and even love her with no sign of her ever doing anything to convince them that they should. She repeatedly lets everyone walk all over her, make decisions for her, and trick her, something I thought was being set up for her to overcome, but which she basically never does. She's basically miserable from the first page right up until the very last one, constantly complaining about things that no one forced her to do, but which did because she NEVER SAYS NO TO ANYONE. Stay in Manaus for months on end? Sure! Travel to a tribe in the jungle where anacondas as thick as a treetrunk are hanging out in the waters and boats come by so rarely that we don't even know when you'll ever make it back? Why not! Go to the Amazon in the first place, though you were clearly terrified, didn't want to, and hated it there? Definitely!
There were moments when I teetered on liking (or maybe just pitying) Marina, but she basically stomped all over those moments at the very end, when in a move that is 100% out of character with everything we've seen from her before, she TRADES A LIVING CHILD to get back Anders. The relationship built between the child, Marina, and Anders is one that the book spends a lot of loving care on, so why throw it away like that? And then, as if to drive the point home that Marina's supposed moral compass, probably the only reason to like her, has been tossed away as she has sex with Anders (who is married and has children) after holding his crying wife and promising her that she'll bring him back. How are we supposed to like this character? The weird part is, that sex scene adds absolutely nothing to the story at all. You could pull that whole section from the book and still end it the exact same way and nothing would be different. So why on earth was it included? It takes what could be a moment of relief and triumph and excitement and turns it into a weird "what the hell?" kind of moment instead.
I will say that there are some pieces of gorgeous writing in this book and the premise is very cool. Had Marina actually displayed any qualities that would explain why everyone grows so attached to her, and had the ending not included those bizarre and out-of-character moments, I would have really liked it. But those two things really did kind of kill it for me.
What I didn't like about this was the characters, particularly the main character Marina. I failed to connect with her throughout the entire book, finding her generally unlikeable. The other characters inexplicably come to like and even love her with no sign of her ever doing anything to convince them that they should. She repeatedly lets everyone walk all over her, make decisions for her, and trick her, something I thought was being set up for her to overcome, but which she basically never does. She's basically miserable from the first page right up until the very last one, constantly complaining about things that no one forced her to do, but which did because she NEVER SAYS NO TO ANYONE. Stay in Manaus for months on end? Sure! Travel to a tribe in the jungle where anacondas as thick as a treetrunk are hanging out in the waters and boats come by so rarely that we don't even know when you'll ever make it back? Why not! Go to the Amazon in the first place, though you were clearly terrified, didn't want to, and hated it there? Definitely!
There were moments when I teetered on liking (or maybe just pitying) Marina, but she basically stomped all over those moments at the very end, when in a move that is 100% out of character with everything we've seen from her before, she TRADES A LIVING CHILD to get back Anders. The relationship built between the child, Marina, and Anders is one that the book spends a lot of loving care on, so why throw it away like that? And then, as if to drive the point home that Marina's supposed moral compass, probably the only reason to like her, has been tossed away as she has sex with Anders (who is married and has children) after holding his crying wife and promising her that she'll bring him back. How are we supposed to like this character? The weird part is, that sex scene adds absolutely nothing to the story at all. You could pull that whole section from the book and still end it the exact same way and nothing would be different. So why on earth was it included? It takes what could be a moment of relief and triumph and excitement and turns it into a weird "what the hell?" kind of moment instead.
I will say that there are some pieces of gorgeous writing in this book and the premise is very cool. Had Marina actually displayed any qualities that would explain why everyone grows so attached to her, and had the ending not included those bizarre and out-of-character moments, I would have really liked it. But those two things really did kind of kill it for me.