kailey_luminouslibro's Reviews (3.79k)

Definitely going on my list of Favorite Shakespeare plays! The characters are amazingly well-rounded, their motives believable, and their dialogue superb. The plot is thrilling and plausible, the setting of imprisoned noblemen and corrupt government is perfectly painted.

The constable, Elbow, reminds me of the constable in "Much Ado about Nothing", always saying the wrong word and not making any sense! haha! Cracks me up every time.
Angelo's character is especially well-written. He truly believes in his self-righteousness, which makes him even creepier as a villain.
I especially love the dialogue between the the Duke and Lucio. haha! I was really chuckling through their scenes.
The Duke has a strong character, and somehow I keep thinking of him like a lion in disguise. Like King Richard the Lionheart at the end of Robin Hood, swooping in to save the day. Wonderful character, and I love seeing him pulling the strings behind the scenes of the story, and just delighting in manipulating everyone to fulfill his plot.
Isabella is amazing! Possibly the best female character in all of Shakespeare, right alongside Beatrice and Juliet. She's kind but strong, merciful and virtuous, attractive and winning, intelligent and brave. She is the glue that holds the entire play together.

I didn't realize that this book is a sequel until the very end. It was easy to follow on it's own though.
I feel like I would have liked the book better if I had been more interested in the subject material, or had any personal experience to relate to it. The writing is good, and the journey of the main character is inspiring! I loved the little details and subtle thought patterns that fill up and give importance to some portions of the book, and give a nice rounding out at the end.
It just didn't capture my interest or pull me into the story. I skimmed through some parts of it.

Too many characters, boring plot, bland writing, cardboard characters, bored bored bored. Didn't finish it, b/c I died of boredom.

Very weird, and the description of the pagan rites and statues freaked me out. ew.

Bored out of my skull. I couldn't finish it. Hated the writing style. Boring characters, and no plot to speak of b/c it was soooooo slow.

I had thought this was a children's book, but it is NOT. Decidedly not. The plot seems like it ought to be funny, but it isn't. The characters appear to be interesting, but they aren't. The dialogue gives every promise of being witty, but fails miserably. I'm not sure what exactly is wrong with this book. Maybe I'm just in the wrong mood for reading it. It's just the sort of book that usually entertains me, but somehow this one bored me to death.

Quite different from the movie version, "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers", and I think I like the movie better. But this short story is full of fun and interest!

I absolutely love Madeline L'engle's writing style. Her words are so beautifully crafted, each phrase like a perfect puzzle piece of ideas that fit together flawlessly.

However, I did not enjoy this story. The heroine, Camilla, was far too passive for my taste. She just let people walk all over her most of the time. And a lot of her supposedly good relationships with people were completely inappropriate, unhealthy, and emotionally abusive!

The story line was not pleasant, all about parents cheating and fighting and lying to each other, and how the children deal with the chaos in their family life.
I didn't like any of the characters, even the good ones. These young teenagers are all so jaded, without faith or trust in anyone or anything, without hope.

And I didn't like the writer's religious philosophy. So arrogant, thinking that you can make God be who you want Him to be. He just IS, whether you like it or not!
So... not a great book, but I have enjoyed other books by this author!

I like the overall setting and plot of this story! It's interestingly complex and full of mystery. I also loved the diverse main characters! But the writing is so slow. It just takes forever for anything to happen, and everything is over-explained and drawn out too long. Most of the supporting characters are boring and lifeless too. The writing has potential, but I quickly got bored with this book.