i don’t usually read short stories, but this one right here definitely caught my eye. to easily summarize it, weird time travel where eventually one pi don’t usually read short stories, but this one right here definitely caught my eye. to easily summarize it, weird time travel where eventually one person becomes the center of the timeline (like madoka magica hdjdjsj). i can’t go into much detail without outright telling the story so here come the quotes:
You saw yourself as an unholy triptych, three into one, one into three: she the girl, you the Devil, and I the Saint.
That I have lived and killed and lived again in the name of a man who does not deserve it because I wanted so badly to be beloved.
I wonder what the songs will say about the Devil now that she is covered in the blood of her own God. I find that I no longer care at all.
samsa in love is a spin-off of The Metamorphosis by frank kafka. this time, gregor, now referred to as samsa, is surprisedfor my english b IB class :P
samsa in love is a spin-off of The Metamorphosis by frank kafka. this time, gregor, now referred to as samsa, is surprised when he wakes up as a man instead of a bug. this is a pretty short story, and while i would recommend it if you liked the original story, it just didn't do it for me.
as you could tell from the title, samsa falls in love with an unusual woman. overall, this story to me seemed incomplete, and i think murakami could have expanded more on some aspects of it.
being this the second book i've read by Margaret Rogerson, i have come to realize that she's definitely one of my favorite authors.
this story follows being this the second book i've read by Margaret Rogerson, i have come to realize that she's definitely one of my favorite authors.
this story follows artemisa, a nun who works with relics that house the souls of the dead. one day, when the church is under attack, her life is irrevocably changed. the gothic elements in this book are so rich and atmospheric; i loved every dark and eerie detail. the way rogerson describes the relics, the spirits, and the haunting settings pulls you into a world that is both beautiful and chilling.
i have come to love the way that rogerson writes her main characters. i think it is refreshing to see in fantasy girls who are placed as main characters who aren't immediately insufferable, and artemisa shines through as a fun character who i could relate to. "i preferred the company of the dead to that of the living. they didn’t gossip about me, for one thing." i really enjoyed the found family aspect of the book, along with the plot twists that are common in rogerson's novels. artemisa’s journey, from a reclusive nun to someone who embraces her destiny, is compelling and filled with emotional depth.
the gothicness of it all is one of my favorite parts. the dark corridors of the convent, the eerie silence of the relics, and the constant presence of death create a unique and captivating atmosphere. i love the revenant, the spirit bound to artemisa, and their complex relationship. this is definitely one of my favorite stories, and one that i know i will read again and again without ever tiring of. i need a second part, pleaseeeee :)
If there’s one thing I can always rely upon, it’s the reassuring dependability of human idiocy.
“You must be popular at the nun parties. Do you have any friends? Just out of curiosity.”
There was a plot outside my old village where children were buried in unmarked graves.
“Not a vespertine,” corrected a quiet voice. “A saint.”
“Artemisia of Naimes is watching over us tonight.”
The revenant might be a monster, but it was my monster.
“This is my human,”
Margaret Rogerson’s ability to blend gothic elements with fantasy and create such an immersive story is truly remarkable. Vespertine is a must-read for anyone who loves dark, atmospheric tales with strong, relatable characters. ...more
La Señora en su Balcón es un texto de Elena Garro en la cual Clara, la protagonista, conversa consigo misma. La Clara actual, Clara de 50 Años, invocaLa Señora en su Balcón es un texto de Elena Garro en la cual Clara, la protagonista, conversa consigo misma. La Clara actual, Clara de 50 Años, invoca en su memoria a tres Claras de su pasado; Clarita, Clara de 20 años y Clara de 40 años. Todas ellas se presentan en escena con un hombre que las ha marcado en la vida, con el tema recurrente de la memoria y de Nínive. Al transcurrir la historia, Clara de 50 años interactúa con su pasado, y concluye con que lo que ha tenido que hacer toda la vida no era correr de esos hombres, sino de sí misma. El texto concluye con Clara tirándose del balcón, en búsqueda de lo que realmente la hará feliz. Dentro de la historia, hay varios temas que son reflejados en las diferentes etapas de Clara, la imaginación parece ser la que está presente de manera más general. Desde que Clara era Clarita, en la clase del Profesor García, ella se reflejaba como una niña curiosa. Mientras que esto no la señalaría como una mala alumna, el Profesor García enseña su clase desde los hechos, y la imaginación es una gran disrupción. Por ende, Clarita termina siendo lo opuesto a él, asegurando problemas. Cuando Clarita decide que va a encontrar Nínive, sale corriendo de la habitación, a lo que el Profesor dice “La imaginación es la enfermedad de los débiles.” (pg. 438), así dando hincapié a lo que vendrá más adelante en la historia. Otro tema explorado es la identidad. En el caso del texto, la identidad de las Claras son las que se ven afectadas y manipuladas. Clara quiere ser su propia persona y buscar Nínive, pero los hombres en su vida la limitan. El profesor quiere hacer de ella una estudiante ejemplar, meterla en un molde y no dejar que se expanda. Andrés quiere que sea su esposa, que ella cumpla con la aprobación de sus padres y que vivan juntos. Andrés quiere que Clara se conforme con él, incluso diciéndole “¡Ven, amor mío, nadie te querrá como tú pides ser querida!” (pg. 441), insinuando que tiene que cambiar su identidad para poder ser felíz. Más tarde, Julio la reduce a lo que él llama “sus locuras”, lo que en realidad es lo que más anhela Clara. El tercer tema más prevalente sería la búsqueda de la felicidad. Desde pequeña, Clara busca encontrar lo que realmente la hace felíz, o encontrar Nínive. Toda la narrativa, sin importar si fuese Clarita, o Clara de 20 años, o si estuviera con Julio, Clara busca encontrar Nínive. Esto es lo que la mantiene con vida, con esperanza y en continuo movimiento. Es más, cuando Clara se percata de que en esta vida no va a encontrar su razón de ser felíz, se suicida. “Ahora sé que solo me falta huir de mi misma para alcanzarla.” (pg 444) Cuando la búsqueda de la felicidad no da resultados, el suicidio parece la única escapatoria, o la única manera de buscarla en otro lado. En cuanto a los personajes, es adecuado empezar con la protagonista. Clara es una mujer que relata su vida y su búsqueda de Nínive. En el relato la podemos apreciar en diferentes etapas de su vida, pero todas tienen algo en común: Clara es terca, y va a encontrar lo que quiere encontrar. Esto mismo es lo que le ocasiona problemas con los hombres que aparecen en la historia, su búsqueda provoca incomodidad en los demás. Clara está tan enfocada en su deseo que hasta parece que se olvida de vivir su vida, hecho que se justifica aún más con su suicidio. Es una persona idealista que termina decepcionada cada vez que intenta que alguien la comprenda. Mediante la historia y las diferentes Claras, podemos ver como su deseo trabaja en contra de ella y le impide muchas cosas, y como eso mismo la moldea como persona. El Profesor García es un hombre que solo cree en los hechos claros. Es una persona muy cuadrada, le gustan las cosas de una manera muy peculiar, y choca mucho con Clara ya que ella no encaja en su molde. Le molesta la grán imaginación y poca concentración de Clara, y es mencionado por Clara que él solo lee su libro, y no se molesta en verificar o incrementar su sabiduría. Al saber tanto de la historia, sabe muy poco del mundo, y no lo sabe observar para aprender de él. Clara y él son opuestos desde un principio. Andrés busca casarse con Clara. Con tan solo 20 años, persigue a Clara a través del escenario con un anillo de compromiso en la mano. Andrés es una persona que se conforma a la sociedad y a lo que es esperado de él. El busca la mano de Clara junto con el consentimiento de sus padres. Busca que se casen, que compren una casa, y que tengan hijos, como es esperado de una pareja. “Dos gentes que se quieren necesitan una casa, un lugar donde vivir.” (pg. 440). Por más que quiere a Clara, no puede razonar con ella y su búsqueda, y no logra convencerla de casarse. El quiere estabilidad, algo concreto y certero, mientras que Clara está buscando algo que ya no existe y que solo existe en la memoria. Julio, el marido de Clara, es una persona muy pesimista. El cree que no hay más en la vida que solo trabajar, que la vida no se disfruta, y que lo que Clara busca son locuras. El cree que la búsqueda de Clara es escapismo, y que él es mejor, o que está en lo correcto, porque ve al mundo tal y como es. El ve un mundo gris, depresivo, un horrible engaño, donde hay que seguir la corriente y terminar con el trabajo. Como personaje, es el que choca con Clara de la manera más directa, llamándola una loca y siempre oponiéndose a lo que dice. Es la última pieza que Clara necesita para percatarse de que su Nínive no está ni con él ni en esta tierra. La situación inicial nos presenta a Clara de 50 años, quien está en su balcón. Desde ahí la seguimos en su narrativa, en donde se pregunta quién es la que la ha llevado al balcón, en donde a su vida girado para tal mal. Entra Clarita, y se comenta cómo eran felices, explorando el mundo sin límites, y como todo cambio cuando llega el Profesor García. La ruptura de equilibrio se daría cuando Clarita aprende sobre Nínive, y cómo lo relaciona con su búsqueda de la felicidad. Es un momento clave en el texto ya que no solo define los nuevos límites que Clara encuentra en su mundo, si no que también nos enseña cómo va a buscar evitarlos. Aprender sobre Nínive es lo que lleva a Clara al balcón, es lo que la condena. En el desarrollo, las diferentes Claras lidian con el conocimiento de Nínive en diferentes situaciones. Vemos cómo su vida drásticamente cambia, como ya no encaja en la sociedad, como su identidad está siempre en conflicto, y cómo continúa su búsqueda. Andrés y Julio buscan limitarla, pero ambos fallan y terminan, de una manera indirecta, empujándola hacia el balcón. Toda la situación nos lleva al balcón, y no hay como escapar. La resolución es bastante corta, siendo el suicidio de Clara de 50 años, y por ende la muerte de todas las otras Claras. El suicidio parece la única solución ya que Clara nunca encuentra la felicidad en esta vida, pero el razonamiento final se puede interpretar dependiendo el lector. ¿Se suicidio por qué sabe que nunca encontrará la felicidad? o ¿Se suicidó por qué buscará la felicidad en otro lugar? Finalmente, en mi opinión, este texto es muy interesante. Me intrigó mucho como el personaje busca dentro de ella misma para encontrar la razón de su suicidio. Aparte, me encantó que Clara nunca pareció una persona triste, aunque nunca obtuvo su felicidad. Elena Garro tiene un control increíble de las palabras para enseñarnos las cosas. Ahora que ya he leído el guión, me encantaría ver cómo se representaría la historia en un escenario. Creo que todos podemos aprender de Clara, tanto lo que hay que hacer como lo que no. No debemos dejar que nadie nos limite, pero no debemos limitarnos a nosotros mismos en búsqueda de algo que es inalcanzable. En fin, creo que esta es una muy buena lectura, una que seguro repetiré algún día, y una que recomiendo bastante.
i read this novel for my english b IB class so here we go:
the story follows our protagonist gregor samsa as he awakes one morning as a bug. while thisi read this novel for my english b IB class so here we go:
the story follows our protagonist gregor samsa as he awakes one morning as a bug. while this might be a great shock to most of us, gregor is only bothered because he can't figure out how to stand up to go to work.
throughout the story we see how the samsa family functions, and how they adapt as their only support is turned into a bug and can't provide from them anymore. while i am not a particular fan of kafka's works, i deeply resonated with the metamorphosis. i have also had moments where i am so focused on my work and what needs to be done that i barely pay attention to my own needs. the feeling of being alienated when you are no longer of use to someone, to later on be a burden and then forgotten, is something i think a lot of us fear and some of us experience. i think this story greatly encapsules how one can be subject to changes when we do not take care of ourselves, when our only tasks are those which are duties and chores instead of hobbies and activities we enjoy.
the overall depressing mood of the novel somehow foreshadowed the end, but i'd like to remind everyone who sometimes (or all times) feels like gregor samsa that you don't have to end the same way he did, you are loved and much more valuable than a cockroach <3....more
edit: as time goes by i like this book less and less
i can't for the life of me determine if this is YA or NA
it reads like YA and has YA tropes, but sedit: as time goes by i like this book less and less
i can't for the life of me determine if this is YA or NA
it reads like YA and has YA tropes, but some aspects are NA. anyways, in daughter of no worlds, tisaanah, a former slave, gets her freedom and travels to the one place where she thinks she will be free. while tisaanah definitely has y/n vibes, which is something i hate in books, she is not a little naïve girl who needs to be rescued every other day. bonus points for that. she does seem to become a grey character towards the end, which i am really excited about. i think the broken hero trope fits her very well.
now, weirdly enough, i have no idea what else to say about this book. i found it very dense in some parts, but i think that is due to the magic system and heavy lore implemented throughout the story. i think this world is very well built and has a lot of potential, i only hope the next books are as good or better than this one, i would hate for this story to be lost because the author had too much on her hands and didn't know how to go forward.
ALSO THIS BOOK IS FANTASY ROMANCE not just fantasy. know this before you proceed because i am NOT a fan of romance and it definitely took me by surprise....more
if you know you will disagree with this review, please refrain from reading it and from sending me rude messages
i have very strong opinions about thisif you know you will disagree with this review, please refrain from reading it and from sending me rude messages
i have very strong opinions about this book and none of them are good.
(i know that this is based loosely on lancali's childhood as a chronically-ill kid and i intend no harm or hate to the author, i am just sharing my opinion on the story)
i had previously halfway read another of lancali's works on wattpad, but quit it for the same reason i did not enjoy this book: it reads like a tumblr inspiration board that miraculously made it through editing. now, if this is something you enjoy, this book might just be your cup of tea, but in my case it provoked copious amounts of cringe.
"'They're only scars,' I say, kissing the edge of her wrist."
clearly lancali is inspired by her story, but it still lacks plot. please, someone tell me the plot of this book, because nothing really happens here. it is all quotes, all of it. i swear that teenagers don't speak in prose or pinterest quotes all the time. we are also normal humans who can talk normally. when all the book is metaphors, it loses its charm.
the narrative style was incredibly frustrating. it felt like every line was trying too hard to be profound, which made the characters come off as inauthentic and melodramatic. this constant barrage of poetic language made it difficult to connect with the story or the characters on a meaningful level.
when it comes to the triggering content of the book, which happens to be present all the time because, apparently, life is awful, i do have some points to make. essentially, the author gets you attached to the characters to then make them endure endless suffering because that's how life is. while i have no issue with the depiction of mental illnesses or diseases or anything of the sort, i do have an issue when it ends up being almost romanticized and harmfully portrayed. all of the characters needed therapy and yet none of them had it, and you could tell. and before you all come for me, i'm also a chronically-ill teenager, and i found it really hard to resonate with this story.
the book's approach to suffering felt exploitative rather than insightful. instead of providing a nuanced exploration of chronic illness and emotional pain, it seemed to wallow in misery for the sake of drama. this not only made the reading experience unpleasant but also potentially harmful, as it perpetuates negative stereotypes and misconceptions about what it's like to live with chronic illness.
another major issue was the narrator's overwhelming savior complex. she constantly positioned herself as the one who could 'fix' everything, which became tiresome and irritating. this dynamic undermined the agency of the other characters and made the protagonist hard to sympathize with.
did not enjoy and would not recommend :P
edit: forgot to mention that the narrator has the biggest saviour complex known to mankind and that really made me despise her...more
this whole series feels so dear to me. this book is by far the one with the most plot-driven drama, but it could not be achieved this made me cryyyyyy
this whole series feels so dear to me. this book is by far the one with the most plot-driven drama, but it could not be achieved without all the characterization that occured in the past two books. ah i can't explain just how this book makes my heart feel.
i think i am heartbroken because this book ends and because of how it ends. as i said in my review for The Camelot Betrayal, this story is much more about guinevere and her journey to finding herself than about camelot. in this book, however, we see a LOT of occurrences outside of guinevere's existential crisis, particularly with the dark queen and merlin (dw merlin gets what he deserves). while i would have prefered a different ending to what we got, this book feels like a really nice way to tie up this series.
i think something that made me like this book so much is that similarly to We Are Okay, the depiction of characters having real moments where they struggle and have to figure themselves out and what they really want feels real. i felt for guinevere and understood her struggle, the idea of not knowing who you are to later know that your own existence is a violent act must be devastating. this is the first time that right after finishing a book, i want to read the whole series again immediately.
fina slays <3
seriously do yourself a favour and read this series.
“I am a mystery even unto myself.”
Why did hearts try to run themselves out of beats? They had so few.
I tried to be a witch and people got hurt, and I tried to be a queen and people got hurt, and I have been in between for so long that I am nothing.
Kindness could be just as powerful, just as useful as force.
A witch with false memories. A queen with no history. A girl with no past.
“Be patient. Be gentle with yourself. We will figure this out together.”
"Nothing that connects me to anyone is mine to keep.”
“You are a girl. Just because violence shaped you does not make your very existence an act of violence.”
She did not want to be unmade. She wanted to live.
“You are human, Guinevere. The only way Excalibur will unmake you is if it stabs you. Is that what you want? To bleed to death? To take yourself away because you cannot live with the guilt of what happened to bring you here?”
Nimue had made the sword for her.
Perhaps it was human nature to cling to simple stories. Stories of right triumphing over wrong, of wizards who were powerful and good, of kings who always saved their people. Stories that made sense, with a beginning, a middle, and an end.
something i love about this series is just how fantasy-y it feels. it has that ability of wrapping me completely in the story and setting that so manysomething i love about this series is just how fantasy-y it feels. it has that ability of wrapping me completely in the story and setting that so many other new fantasy books lack. the worldbuilding is so exquisite that i forget that camelot does not really exist and neither do the characters. it is something that i adore immensely and that makes me love this story.
saying that, i would agree with some of the other reviews that say that the plot and pacing seem to be all over the place. similarly to the first book, it seems like nothing is happening until in the last 30 pages or so something ties it all together. i think this is because as much as this is labeled as an adventure, it is not one about camelot, but rather about guinevere. this is what makes events such as the festival or guinevach's appearance look like they don't add onto the plot, but they add immensely to guinevere's character.
most of the "small" adventures that happen, i'm saying "small" because they don't take up lots of time in the book, not because they are small feats or anything of the sort, seem to mess up the plot, giving the readers "useless" information. however, all of these instances give so much characterization to guinevere. it's hard to remember that guinevere was literally a blank canvas in the first book, and all of these events are the ones that mold her into the guinevere we see by the end of the book. she has to learn what she really wants and who she really is after being lied to her whole life, which is no easy task.
the other thing i would like to talk about is the romance??? i am generally not a fan of romance, but the way the relationships are so natural really gets to me. be it brangien and isolde, guinevere and lancelot, or guinevere and arthur, all of them feel so real and so intricate. guinevere is so aware of her presence in all of them, how arthur seems to only be with her for duty, how lancelot is treated differently because she is her knight. the sisterhood between guinevere and guinevach is one that is so twisted and tangled and yet it perfectly works out. this book and these characters definitely get me in my feels :(
“Because she wears pink she cannot be in league with evil?”
“Do you ever feel like you do not know yourself?”
She suspected she deserved to be haunted.
Fortunately, with Arthur back, no one would miss Guinevere. If Guinevach had her way, no one would ever miss her.
“I promised I would protect Camelot. And I have. But I cannot—I cannot stay. I keep hurting people. I keep hurting myself. And until I know who I truly am, I do not think I can be Guinevere anymore. Not the Guinevere Lily needs, or Arthur needs, or Camelot needs.”
The Guinevere Deception is a reimagined version if the arthurian legend, where our protagonist is Guinevere. except, she's not really gu✨spoiler free✨
The Guinevere Deception is a reimagined version if the arthurian legend, where our protagonist is Guinevere. except, she's not really guinevere. She's Merlin's daughter, and has been tasked with protecting Arthur from what is to come to Camelot.
To do this, fake Guinevere takes dead Guinevere's place as Arthur's wife, a position which would raise no suspicion in court, except for the fact that she needs magic to protect Arthur, and magic is prohibited in Camelot. As such, her work time is very diminished, but she wastes no time and plays queen during the day. It is this way that she sees the patchwork knight, and the first real threat to Arthur, a magical one.
I would call this a book about what it is to find oneself. Fake Guinevere doesn't even have her name, she's had to burn it away to be able to pretend to be dead Guinevere. Besides, not only does she not remember much about her childhood, she only knows she needs to protect Arthur, who's away most of the days. She calls herself Arthur's protector, but when she's not that, what is she? That, gentlefriends, is the one question that pestered both me and fake Guinevere throughout the whole book.
"There was dangerous magic in pretending. Pretend long enough, and who could say what was real?"
Now, we can talk about the characters. Since this is based on the Arthurian Legend, it is safe to say that I recognize some. I, however, never actually heard the legend from beginning to end, but the book provides enough context that I got the gist of it. When it came to characters, however, this meant that I was truly lost in who was who, but I think that made the suspense and surprise much greater for me. When talking about the characters, it is impossible to not mention how complex they are, making their betrayals actually hurt, both me and Guinevere. All of the more present characters are very well developed, and the author did include quite a variety of representation, something I will never complain about.
This book made me hurt for Arthur and Guinevere both. Arthur never really got to live his life, he is barely 18 and has to run a whole kingdom and defend it from others. He really just wants to be loved and to not be left alone again, which is why him and Guinevere worked so well this book, up until the plot twist.
"Ever since I claimed Excalibur, I ceased being Arthur and became king."
Arthur needed someone, and Guinevere wanted to be needed. Guinevere, on the other hand, had to deal with literally building herself (my girl was literally a blank slate) only to then be told that the very bases of her being were lies.
Besides, the magic system in this book? One of the best I've read in a while. The whole book we fear the Dark Queen, and find out that her magic is everywhere. Honestly, I hope in the next books, Guinevere learns much more magic, because everyone (i.e. the Dark Queen) keeps saying she's far more powerful that she knows. I am all for sorcerer Guinevere. I also really want to know her real name because I have a feeling that she might be someone from the legend eeek.
"I sought to rule to men. What you have awoken will destroy them."
really hope that quote peaks your interest pls read this book <3...more
rovan is a bloodmage who lives under the system until she doesn't. she decides to play detective bc she can and bc she's an insufferable little th1.5
rovan is a bloodmage who lives under the system until she doesn't. she decides to play detective bc she can and bc she's an insufferable little thing and finds out things she shouldn't. and ofc, since she knows ppls secrets, they want to kill her.
TW: death, loss of a loved one (on-page and off), violence, blood, gore, body horror, fratricide, mention of death by suicide, substance and alcohol addiction, enforced gender roles, forced marriage, and pregnancy (including rape, but the latter is off-page, in the past, and not involving main characters), and threats of rape and abuse.
hear me out, this book did pretty well up until two thirds in. from then on, everything went to shit. people were dying, making out, dying again, playing cupid, planning a revolution, dying yet again, and being petty little bitches in the span of a few chapters. this tend to happen with standalones, like with Girl, Serpent, Thorn, where it seems like they get carried along with the first arc and then rush the second. what authors don't seem to notice is that yoU CAN JUST EXTEND THE SECOND ARC OR CUT THE FIRST ONE SHORT. OR MAKE THIS A DUOLOGY.
i'm so mad because i loved this book so much until suddenly rovan fell in love in the span of two seconds. i'm not kidding. maybe it's just because i'm not a romance reader, but that literally made me want to dnf the book right there and then.
"I love you, too."
no you don't you've know each other for three weeks tops.
i have a lot of things to scream about so i will continue. i did not understand the logistics of the end, but i still didn't like the fact that everything seemed to be fixed immediately after rovan wakes up. you're telling me we went through all this drama for y'all to be fine afterwards? no. rovan is a halfway decent mc, she made me cringe a lot for a book written so recently. i've cringed less with books written in the 2010's, and i read glimmerglass, if you know what i'm talking about.
the remarkable things: the lgbtq+ rep the magic system is pretty cool (not the revenants tho)
i hated this so much laqiuwehdjklsm.czxbi
"It's a work of violent art."
"An army of the dead facing an army of the living."
"I am a creature of hunger."
"I don't believe love is a finite resource."
"Sometimes I feel like I love too much and not enough."
"But not all hurts affect the flesh. Some reach the spirit."
The Handmaid's Tale tells the story of a dystopian society where the United States government has been overthrown. Although published in 1985, many ofThe Handmaid's Tale tells the story of a dystopian society where the United States government has been overthrown. Although published in 1985, many of the topics discussed throughout the novel are still seen today. The main themes of this novel is the loss of reproductive rights and loss of female agency and individuality. As such, our protagonist, Offred, who once had another name, is reduced to that of a Handmaid, a woman whose only task is to bear children for the Commanders, the ruling men in this society. All Handmaids are dressed in red to differentiate them from the other women, and to group them into the same category. They are given new names to strip them of whatever individuality they might've had. "My name isn't Offred, I have another name, which nobody uses now because it's forbidden."
Overall, this book definitely scared me in a way I didn't expect it to. When things written in a dystopian book start to sound a lot like the real world, what else can you expect? I thinks it's something we should all read at times like this, not to scare us but as a warning. The way Offred narrates what is happening deeply connected with me, raw details are not censored and I think that makes the story much more believable. It is scary to think that some people read this book and see nothing but a woman telling the tasks she does throughout the day, rather than the way she's been delimited to fit a role in the society she lives in.
"I hunger to commit the act of touch."
"These women could be undone; or not. They seemed to be able to choose."
"We are containers, it's only the inside of our bodies that are important."
“The Commander’s Wife looks down at the baby as if it’s a bouquet of flowers: something she’s won, a tribute.”
“We are two-legged wombs, that’s all: sacred vessels, ambulatory chalices.”
this book gave me the worst reading slump ever, but at the same time, it was so good to read. i can see why it is considered a modern clasanywayyyysss
this book gave me the worst reading slump ever, but at the same time, it was so good to read. i can see why it is considered a modern classic, and the more time that passes since i read it, the more obsessed i become with it.
i’m very conflicted about the epilogue. overall, i loved all the characters—they are so well developed that everything they did somehow made sense in its own way. richard, the narrator, is a master of self-deception and reflects the unsettling ambience of the novel with his quiet, almost passive, descent into the moral ambiguities of his new world. henry, the enigmatic leader, is as compelling as he is terrifying, embodying the intellectual coldness that drives much of the story’s tension. the other characters, including bunny with his disarming yet insidious charm, and the elusive twins charles and camilla, each add layers of complexity to the narrative.
also, the drama?? love it.
be aware that this book did feel like it was never going to end, just thought you should consider that if you’re going to read it. i totally did not expect what henry did at the end; it caught me off guard. the way history repeats itself and the characters lie and twist the story surprised me. the constant manipulation of the truth by the characters creates an atmosphere where reality is always shifting, making you question everything you read. the atmosphere is thick with an almost suffocating sense of dread, and tartt's meticulous prose only amplifies this feeling. the lush, detailed descriptions of the new england setting contrast sharply with the dark deeds of the characters, creating an unsettling ambience that lingers long after the last page is turned.
“The bystander which I so essentially am.”
“The oddest things make me laugh these days.”
“I became an expert at making myself invisible.”
“Beauty is terror. Whatever we call beautiful, we quiver before it.”
“But the idea of losing control is one that fascinates controlled people such as ourselves more than almost everything.”
“I am nothing in my soul if not obsessive.”
Donna Tartt’s ability to craft such a haunting and immersive story is undeniable, making The Secret History a book that is impossible to forget.
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