theelliad's reviews
252 reviews

This is honestly one of the best things I’ve read recently! This perfectly balances moral teachings, spooky elements and general engagement for all ages! I cried, I laughed, I felt like a kid again and all in the best way possible! 

I actually really enjoyed this little play! There is something very Muriel Spark about the slightly chaotic events and I love that! There was definitely space for a more smooth development in Nora’s character but I honestly respect her for being the original i need to find myself girlie! 

It’s no surprise that for me this didn’t live up to my expectations given how long this took me to get through (the fact that I lost the book twice not included as that’s not Tartts fault) 

I loved the first section of this book up until about halfway through Theo being at the Barbour’s. After that it fell far from grace. Firstly in it’s unnecessary length (it’s not clever and purposeful the way it is in The Secret History), and in its lack of plot (which also was not clever or purposeful and was just boring). I think the main issue is Tartt didn’t seem to know what type of book she wanted to write; this flits between being a bildungsroman on grief/parent loss, to a story of romanticised addiction and consumption (not to mention the completely unnecessary use of the N word several times in this section by a white author writing from the perspective of a white character…) to a wholesome reunion/found family narrative, to fraud, to gangsters in Amsterdam? I don’t know I just feel like this was doing too much and none of it particularly well. I did enjoy the mildly philosophical/ekphrasis section towards the end (though I agree with Amy’s takes that it feels like Tartt intruding to explain the novel- she never was great at letting readers be readers) however it did make me question whether Tartt missed the mark on the format of this as I can’t help but wonder if it would have worked better if told through the letters Theo claims to have written to his mother throughout! 
I think this book also just confirms that Donna isn’t her strongest when it comes to creating developed female characters, I wanted so much more from and for Pippa and Kitsey.
Bonus complaint about the ‘dear non existent reader trope’… don’t write a very clearly novel formed 700 page novel just to claim it’s not expected to be read… 

sorry for the long rant heheheh xx

This is a sweet Austen-esq simple story which follows two sisters in mid-war Dublin! I liked the character development and the Irish accents and it was the perfect little read for this time! It’s nothing overly special but definitely enjoyable if you like a simple story with strong female characters! 

I have finally reached the end of this mammoth and it’s safe to say I am not a big book girlie yet! 

This was insanely difficult to rate as on the one hand I really liked the plot and a lot of the writing style, but it was just too long. Had this book been half or even a third of the size I feel like it would have been a 5* read but there was simply too many passages I zoned out of to overlook! 

That said I am glad I read this and I would definitely be interested in some other Dumas books (hopefully shorter ones) as he writes brilliantly! 

Bonus points as well for the cuntified voices on the audiobook I very much enjoyed those! 

Many years and much knowledge later and this book is still as painful as the first time i read it…

This book alongside being *very* overtly sexual, was such a heartbreaking exploration of gender and identity, gaining a sense of comfortability and joy in your body, queerness, transformation and disintegration. I saw so much of myself and my own complicated relationship with gender/sexuality in Lou and this was genuinely entertaining and heartbreaking to read! 

If i had a nickle for every book with shameless cat slaughter i’ve read this year, i’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice… 

This is a powered exploration of female and maternal rage, and certainly hits all the major elements of absurdist or dark mythical fiction! Overall it was enjoyable but nothing too special

Never been the hugest fan of the overly war/political tragedies of shakespeare- coriolanus has some interesting moments and explores nicely power, isolation, public favour and betrayal, there are just many better plays in my opinion 

A beautiful and emotional end to this series! I truly didn’t realise how much i loved this series until this book- you can really see that these aren’t just written for children anymore and there were messages within this that genuinely resonated more now than i think they would of 10 years ago! I LOVED how this book is so conclusive and yet still leaves enough space for future stuff (the sun and the star im looking at you with eager eyes). I LOVED the queer joy, the found family, the independence and the growth of this series- this universe has carried me through all walks of life and still has me laughing out loud and crying for fictional demigods!